The owner of a Valletta pub yesterday filed a judicial protest against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia and Nationalist Party deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami over their allegations connecting his bar to criminal activity.

Jason Azzopardi, owner of The Stable Pub, complained about the descriptions used by the blogger. He threatened to sue the two for libel. He complained in particular about the use of the words “a heavy scene”, “shady-looking men” and “Valletta heavies and a couple of others who really should not have been there”.

He said other parts of the blog published on Monday insinuated the bar’s toilet cubicle was used for drugs and dangerous acts.

Mr Azzopardi denied the claims, which he described as “completely untrue, unfounded, false and defamatory”, causing damage to the bar’s reputation. He argued the allegations were causing financial losses and had also been made by Dr Fenech Adami during a speech yesterday. They were made in public and he could reasonably expect them to be published.

He said the allegations were published in several newspapers and other media and he reserved the right to also sue the newspapers’ editors, authors and journalists responsible for such publications.

The allegations were made after the blogger claimed that Economy Minister Chris Cardona frequented the bar at all hours. The judicial protest was signed by lawyer Alexander Schembri and legal procurator Melissa Anastasi.