A second round of fiery exchanges between Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi and Minister Owen Bonnici’s lawyer ensued in court on Thursday as the former sought to justify a Facebook comment describing Bonnici “a liar” and “a criminal”.

When proceedings continued in the libel suit filed against him by Bonnici, Azzopardi took the witness stand, explaining why he had used the term “liar” when posting a comment on his own Facebook page, a day after the Opposition had obtained a full copy of the Egrant inquiry report drawn up by then-magistrate Aaron Bugeja. 

He referred to a press conference by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on July 22, 2018, in which Muscat “clearly insinuated” that former Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil was responsible for the Egrant “lie” which, in turn, had precipitated early general elections in 2017.

That narrative was taken up by exponents of the Labour government, including Bonnici, making him “an accomplice in that lie”, Azzopardi said, immediately prompting an interruption by Bonnici’s lawyer, Pawlu Lia.

“Where are the facts? This is all a political narrative for journalists to report,” Lia vociferously complained.

But presiding magistrate Rachel Montebello silenced the objection, pointing out that she will allow the testimony to proceed. 

As Azzopardi continued, explaining how, at one point, Busuttil had been truly troubled by that government narrative, another objection by Lia prompted a stern warning by the magistrate who stated that she would not tolerate further interruptions.

In case of another such interruption, the court would halt the hearing and take appropriate measures, she said.

“I bow to that,” Lia said. “But does that mean that the court is stopping me from doing my job,” he asked.

The court reacted to that remark stating that it would hear the testimony and decide what was relevant, adding that it was still too early to understand where the testimony was leading to. 

“You are not assenting,” added the magistrate. 

Azzopardi continued, referring to a heated parliamentary exchange in October 2019, when Muscat and then minister Chris Cardona had “vehemently” threatened Busuttil, calling him a “fraudster”.

On that occasion, the parliamentary sitting had to be suspended, Azzopardi recalled, adding that on that occasion, Bonnici, “legal consultant to the prime minister from minute one”, had done nothing to stop those accusations.

In a press conference, Bonnici was reported saying that Busuttil “does not deserve to be in parliament”.

Lia pointed out that the respondent was to put forward “the best evidence,” especially when quoting newspapers that manifested “an open bias” against the Labour Party and its exponents.

When the full Egrant report eventually landed in the hands of the Opposition, “we realised that we had been facing a lie for one year five months,” went on Azzopardi, stressing that for “one year five months” the government, including Bonnici, had persistently said that the Egrant issue had precipitated the early elections. 

“Now the facts show otherwise,” went on Azzopardi, making reference to more recent testimony by former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri at the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, “admitting for the first time that the election date had been decided in February 2017 and thus was not related to Egrant”.

Reference was also made to email correspondence between Henley and Partners and government members, including Muscat and Bonnici, regarding plans to file SLAPP actions abroad against Caruana Galizia and Azzopardi himself.

That was in November 2016 and the emails showed that an early election was already being contemplated, Azzopardi said.

Those lawsuits would have served to send a message to the journalist and Azzopardi “that if they don’t stop this nonsense, things will get very expensive for them”.

“Tell us what Bonnici said,” Lia challenged.

“He said nothing,” Azzopardi replied.

The minister had also been interviewed on Dutch television in July 2018, where he had stated that government would “leave no stone unturned” in solving the crime and that he would “never censor anyone”.

But, meanwhile, he was “conspiring” in the projected SLAPP actions and was repeatedly ordering the clearing of flowers and other mementos at the makeshift memorial to the assassinated journalist.

Azzopardi’s testimony is set to continue at the next sitting in April.

Lawyer Joseph Zammit Maempel assisted Azzopardi.