Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi has filed a libel suit against University of Malta lecturer Simon Mercieca, over a blog post implicating the lawyer as a mastermind in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

Mercieca published the story on Wednesday, a day after Vince Muscat, a self-confessed and convicted hitman in the crime, had testified in the murder compilation against his former co-accused, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio. 

When questioning the witness, the Degiorgio brothers' lawyer William Cuschieri alleged that in one of the hidden recordings made by self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma there was mention of a plan by lawyer Arthur Azzopardi and Darren Debono to pay Muscat some €300,000 for the journalist’s murder. 

Muscat had immediately dismissed that claim, adding that he did not know Darren Debono and that Azzopardi had never discussed that matter with him. 

Azzopardi had assisted Muscat in various cases but renounced his brief in various cases concerning Muscat in October 2019.

Following Tuesday’s court hearing, Mercieca published a post on his website, titled ‘Arthur and Darren Debono are indicated as the Masterminds of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Murder.’

Within hours, Azzopardi filed an application before the magistrates’ courts, claiming that the story by Mercieca, implicating him in a “most serious crime,” was libellous and defamatory.

It was a “malicious” publication, intended to “cause serious damage” to the lawyer’s reputation and also “to incite public contempt and hatred in his regard,” Azzopardi stated, calling upon the court to declare the story as defamatory and to condemn its author to the payment of moral damages.