Magistrates Abstain From Jason Azzopardi’s Inquiry Requests Into Gozo Ministry
Two Duty Magistrates have decided to abstain from lawyer Jason Azzopardi’s two inquiry requests into issues related to the Gozo ministry, which means they haven’t taken a decision on whether to accept or refuse his requests.
Azzopardi said they made this decision because, “according to Clint Camilleri and his associates”, the alleged offences took place in Gozo so the requests should have been made in the Gozo courts.
“A procedural point, nothing more. Of course, this is exactly what an innocent person would do, right? Instead of welcoming the inquiry, which according to him would confirm that he is not corrupt, he argues that it should have been opened in the Gozo Court rather than in Malta,” he said on social media.
“The journey continues, and I will persist even further,” he assured.
The former PN MP went on to say that whoever thinks it’s easy for a citizen to open an inquiry is “gravely mistaken” because there is a massive barrier that doesn’t exist when the police request a magisterial inquiry.
“The necessary safeguards already exist in the law as it stands.”
Azzopardi’s first request for an inquiry concerns an alleged criminal racket involving Transport Malta and the Gozo Ministry, as well as Camilleri’s wife. His allegations concern mooring spots at the Mġarr harbour in Gozo that were allegedly given out fraudulently.
His other request is related to the alleged mismanagement of funds set out to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool at the Gozo Sports Complex. He warned that the project was originally meant to cost €9 million but ended up costing some €17 million, saying there is reasonable suspicion that public funds were deliberately mismanaged so that they could end up in private hands.
However, Camilleri warned that Azzopardi was only quoting one tender out of seven issued by the government in relation to the sports project.
Both requests will be filed in Gozo today.
Azzopardi has filed numerous magisterial requests which prompted fierce criticism from Prime Minister Robert Abela, as well as a pledge to speed up the reform of the law of magisterial inquiries.
Last week, one of his requests into alleged wrongdoing by the Lands Authority and its CEO Robert Vella was rejected by a magistrate who argued he did not present enough evidence.
How do you think the magistrates in Gozo will respond to his request?
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