The family of Nicholas Azzopardi, who died after falling from a bastion wall in police custody five years ago, have filed a judicial protest claiming there was a cover-up in the inquiries and investigations into his death.

Joseph and Mary Azzopardi, his parents, and his brother, Reno, said that the truth of what led to his death remained hidden.

The protest was filed against Nicholas’ wife, Claudette, then Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, Police Superintendent Alexandra Mamo, a number of police officers, a court expert, a social worker and a doctor.

Mr Azzopardi, who died a few days after the fall, had told relatives from his hospital bed in April 2008 that he had been beaten up and thrown over the wall by police officers who were questioning him over allegations that he had sexually abused his seven-year-old daughter.

The police have repeatedly denied the claims, insisting Mr Azzopardi jumped off the bastion. Subsequent inquiries have exonerated them.

In the judicial protest, the Azzopardi family said that Nicholas had been arrested on April 8, 2008 following an allegation that he had molested his daughter. He was kept under arrest at the police headquarters until the following morning.

He was grievously injured while in police custody and was admitted to hospital where he died on April 22.

The family argued that the arrest was based on a false allegation, made by the deceased’s wife and her mother, Antonia Patiniott, with the complicity and collusion of or gross negligence by the social worker sent by Aġenzija Appoġġ and members of the police force.

His death was not accidental or self-inflicted but a consequence of a deliberate action and/or a very serious failing by the police in safeguarding his personal well-being, they said.

There were also serious failings in hospital care, which contributed to his death, the protest said.

Police investigations and the inquiries held into his death by various people were seriously flawed because vital evidence was obscured or even destroyed, the Azzopardis claimed.

Lawyer Alex Sciberras and legal procurator Rose Sciberras filed the protest.

Even though two investigations cleared the police of any wrongdoing and found that the injuries sustained by Mr Azzopardi were consistent with a fall, doubts re-emerged when Mr Azzopardi’s relatives told the police they were willing to testify about claims of an intimate relationship between his wife and former Police Sergeant Adrian Lia, who had been escorting Mr Azzopardi just before the incident. (Mr Lia had subsequently been charged with stealing about €30,000 from the police headquarters. He has left the force.)

This led the Police Commissioner to ask the Attorney General to reopen the 2008 magisterial inquiry and, again, no evidence of wrongdoing was found. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had also offered an amnesty to anyone who was aware of any abuse that could have taken place.