Lawyers Chamber Condemn Immature Intimidation Tactics Used Against Jason Azzopardi
Malta’s Chamber of Advocates has called for the immediate removal of a poster placed by a controversial car company that was aimed at taunting a specific leading Maltese lawyer.
“The Chamber of Advocates unequivocally condemns this action, which is considered as a specific attempt to influence the same lawyer in the performance of his duties towards his clients. The chamber once again takes the opportunity to condemn any attempt to intimidate a lawyer or to interfere with his professional duties,” it said following No Deposit Cars’ latest stunt.
The company, owned by the notorious Christian Borg, put up a ‘Happy Easter’ poster above its showroom’s facade in Qormi, taunting lawyer Jason Azzopardi.
In the poster, Azzopardi can be seen dressed as a priest, giving a speech in what appears to be a church, with the words ‘Happy Easter 2023 to all’ on the side. Uploaded on Facebook, the image was captioned “Happy Easter to our favourite peeps”.
The used car company is facing legal battles with various customers accusing it of fraud, with the case being led by Azzopardi.
The prominent lawyer is set to be representing 26 people, who were all greatly dissatisfied with the car company’s service, alleging that the company is evading tax and defrauding customers.
A few months back, the customers had also requested that Borg and his company be investigated by the police for having “promoted, constituted, organised or financed an organisation with a view to committing criminal offences which are punishable by imprisonment for four years or more”.
Borg, who is also an alleged kidnapper, has often boasted of having a close relationship with Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The chamber noted that a lawyer’s duty can be “adversarial” but that working things out in court is a”matter of maturity”.
“The role of a lawyer is precisely to participate in the legal process to ensure justice is done, and this should not be confused with what is alleged to have been done by his client or publicly criticised simply because he is doing his job,” it said.
“The Chamber of Advocates believes that no one should violate this fundamental right, and to ensure the safeguarding of the right to justice, it is essential that every lawyer is allowed to perform his professional duties freely and without fear, intimidation, or threats.”
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