Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi has announced that he is stepping down as the lawyer in Repubblika’s request for a police investigation into the deaths of migrants at sea.

“This was a difficult decision, as it was a privilege to assist my clients in their challenge to uphold human rights without distinction to race,” he wrote in a statement today.

Azzopardi made the request on behalf of NGO Republikka to investigate the Prime Minister, AFM Commander Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi and 11 soldiers, accused homicide following the death of five migrants in Malta’s search and rescue Zone.

“Although I do not feel there was a conflict between the two roles, I feel the controversy makes it difficult for me to exercise both my role as an Opposition MP and as a lawyer,” he continued.

On April 9th the government declared its ports closed to the disembarkation of irregular migrants as a preventative measure against COVID-19.

A few days after, the International Organisation for Migration reported five deaths and seven missing migrants within Malta’s search and rescue zone. Meanwhile, hotline for migrants in distress AlarmPhone accused Malta’s Armed Forces of sabotaging a migrant boat. 

Azzopardi accused the Prime Minister of running a “racist campaign and orchestrating intimidation to whoever tries to intervene.”

Previously, the NGO had filed a request with the European Court of Human Rights to order Malta and Italy to reverse their decisions to close their ports to migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Azzopardi has also pledged that he would consult his party before taking on future cases of a politically sensitive nature.

What do you make of his decision?