Yorgen Fenech claimed in court on Monday that he has suffered “irreparable damage” on account of statements made by shadow minister and Daphne Caruana Galizia family lawyer Jason Azzopardi on radio nine days ago.

The businessman, who stands accused of complicity in the murder of the journalist, filed an application before the Magistrates’ Court presiding over the compilation of evidence.

Fenech took issue with comments by Azzopardi in the Saturday morning live talk show on 103 Malta's Heart hosted by Andrew Azzopardi.

“So is Yorgen, in your (plural) opinion, guilty?” the show’s host had asked.

Jason Azzopardi

“Yes, yes,” Azzopardi replied. “Yorgen Fenech had a very big interest,” he went on, stating that in his view, shared “by many”, the prime minister's former chief of staff Keith Schembri had done everything possible to “cover up” the traces of Fenech’s acts so that “Yorgen Fenech would not be caught out”.

Those statements were made during the live broadcast, a video of which was also streamed on Facebook, garnering some 17,000 views. The video is still available to date, Fenech observed. 

Fenech’s lawyers argued that there was clearly a conflict between Azzopardi’s role as shadow minister and parliamentarian, and his active role in the prosecution in the murder proceedings.

Such “continuous and repeated” declarations in public were prejudicing those who “would ultimately have to judge” the accused, they argued, stressing that the parte civile was bound to safeguard the integrity of the trial and the proper administration of justice, which included safeguarding the accused’s rights.

The law on the presumption of innocence states that “As long as a suspect or accused person has not been proven guilty according to law, public statements made by public authorities…..shall not refer to that person as being guilty.”

The lawyers requested the court, presided over by magistrate Rachel Montebello, to hear Azzopardi’s testimony as well as that of a representative of the radio station, and subsequently to provide a suitable remedy to prevent similar statements in future and to “neutralize, if possible, the irreparable damage done.”

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Marion Camilleri and Charles Mercieca signed the application.