A court has provisionally upheld a request by fuel trader Gordon Debono to stop the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs in an attempt to make him subject to international sanctions.

The legal move comes in the wake of an attempt by Malta last week to obtain designations before the United Nations Security Council for former footballer Darren Debono and his alleged associates in an international fuel smuggling racket, Gordon Debono and Libyan Fahmi Bin Khalifa.

The sanctions sought by Malta would effectively make it impossible for the subjects to hide their assets from authorities.

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Last week’s attempt by Malta reportedly failed after a last-minute intervention by Russia which had put the matter on hold.

On Thursday, Gordon Debono’s lawyer, Roberto Montalto, filed an application for a warrant of prohibitory injunction seeking to block any further motion or request, tabled before “any forum” whether national or international and “particularly before the United Nations Security Council, though not exclusively so.”

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The applicant said he had never been informed of any investigation in his regard, be it by the executive police or any other government entity.

The only investigation in his regard, in respect of which proceedings are still pending before the Italian Courts, had resulted in his release from arrest, with the relative authorities stating that the case was based on “mere conjectures.”

Malta last week put forward designations for Darren Debono and his associates, fuel trader Gordon Debono and Libyan Fahmi Bin Khalifa, to the United Nations Security Council.

Those “mere conjectures” were the same merits upon which Malta was basing its request before the United Nations, the court was told.

This ran counter to logic for an “uncensured” person like Mr Debono to be targeted by such sanctions as those that were being sought by the Maltese State against one of its own subjects.

The prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs, as State representatives, were possibly acting merely on the basis of “media speculations”, the applicant argued, adding that this amounted to “a serious and irremediable threat” to his fundamental rights, both property rights and worse still, his right to a fair hearing as safeguarded under the Constitution and the European Convention.

Such threats could result in “a grave and irremediable prejudice” for Mr Debono.

The warrant application was provisionally upheld by the First Hall, Civil Court