Jason Azzopardi’s claims that he was the victim of a hate campaign instigated by Yorgen Fenech to “eliminate” him were totally baseless, intending to mislead the public, the businessman’s lawyers said.

Their arguments followed a judicial protest filed on Wednesday by the Caruana Galizia family lawyer and PN politician in reply to previous claims by Fenech’s legal team that Azzopardi had tried to influence a judge’s decision on bail. 

Azzopardi subsequently hit back at that allegation stating that he had long been targeted by Fenech since speaking out, in a harshly critical tone, against the alleged corruption behind the Electrogas project and Fenech’s involvement in the project.  

WhatsApp chats discovered on Fenech’s mobile phone and one particular text sent to a PN official after the 2019 MEP election indicated that the businessman wanted to “eliminate” him, Azzopardi claimed. 

Now lawyers for the man who stands accused of complicity in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia have rebutted those claims, stating that Azzopardi’s judicial protest was based on “allegations, conjectures and [was] certainly untrue”.

Azzopardi was well aware that Fenech’s conversations with political figures were “purely political in nature” and had nothing to do whatsoever with some plot or attempt to “eliminate” the lawyer.  

Azzopardi was purposely lending a very different meaning to those WhatsApp chat messages to “mislead and deceive the Maltese public,” argued Fenech’s lawyers.

Moreover, it was “ironical” for Azzopardi to claim that he was “the victim of a hate campaign” when it is the lawyer himself who, for the last two years, has loosely mentioned the businessman’s name on “social media, interviews, court sittings and even in social spaces such as football grounds”.

Fenech, who is facing criminal proceedings, is still presumed innocent, his lawyers pointed out, noting further that Azzopardi’s comments extended to Fenech’s legal counsel, members of the judiciary and other persons equally targeted by his “attacks”.

Meanwhile, Fenech, contrary to Azzopardi, has followed “in silence” fully respecting the ongoing judicial process while his fundamental rights are breached by the parte civile lawyer’s constant comments, went on the lawyers.

This was trial by the media and Azzopardi’s comments served to influence public opinion in respect of the accused who was still awaiting trial, Fenech’s lawyers argued.

This ran counter to “what should take place in a democratic society governed by the rule of law, where guilt or otherwise of the accused was to be determined in court,” and this must balance out the right to freedom of expression, said the lawyers, categorically denying Azzopardi’s allegations and holding him responsible in damages.

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Marion Camilleri and Charles Mercieca signed the judicial counter-protest.