Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi has admitted that he received a free hotel stay from the Fenech family and described the report as an attempt to silence him in his pursuit for justice for the Caruana Galizia family. 

Azzopardi was reacting to a report in newspaper Illum on Sunday, which said he had stayed a Hilton hotel in the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv back in 2017. 

His accommodation was paid for by Ray Fenech, the uncle of Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

The Fenech family owns Tumas Group, whose business interests include the Hilton Malta.

Azzopardi, a vocal critic of alleged corruption links to the assassination who also represents the Caruana Galizia family in court, spent five days in Tel Aviv in July 2017.

Caruana Galizia was assassinated a few months later, in October of that year. Yorgen Fenech was arrested and charged with complicity in her murder in late 2019.  

Contacted on Sunday, Azzopardi referred Times of Malta to a Facebook post he penned in reaction to the story. 

He added that no one had ever managed to silence him in his pursuit of justice for the Caruana Galizia family. 

In the Facebook post, Azzopardi said that he had contacted Ray Fenech ahead of the trip to Tel Aviv for a wedding, as he could not find accommodation in the city. 

It was only when he checked out of the hotel that he found that Fenech had already paid for the stay, Azzopardi said. 

He added that on his return to Malta, he had returned the favour with a gift for Fenech. 

Azzopardi said he had been relentless in his efforts to get to the bottom of the Caruana Galizia case and all links to those in positions of influence. 

Connections between Fenech and high profile figures in Malta have been cast into the national spotlight in recent years.

Times of Malta has reported on several links between Fenech and politicians, regulators, and even senior police officials.