Labour deputy leader Toni Abela fumed at the law courts today after another lawyer passed a remark referring to the "white block" seen being cut at the Safi  Labour Party club in 2011. 

Dr Abela took offence to a comment passed by lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel who is representing blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia in a libel suit Dr Abela filed against her over a blog in which she described him as "a clown" and as someone who was "crassly incompetent". The blog had been uploaded in August 2008, soon after his election as deputy leader.  

Dr Abela was making submissions before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale when he referred to a case in which Ms Caruana Galizia allegedly failed to declare income of some of her magazines. 

At that point Dr Zammit Maempel said: "You have the cheek to mention those things? Who are you to talk when you did not even know the difference between a white block and a block of ice."

He was referring to the case revolving around suspected drug dealing at the Attard Labour club in 2011 when the club president had caught someone cutting up drugs in the kitchen. He disposed of the drugs and reported the matter to Dr Abela, who holds the legal title for Labour’s clubs.

Dr Abela never reported the matter to the police and in a tape recording was heard to say: “A club president, a responsible man… found a man in the kitchen… who was cutting up a white block… That very day I sacked (the barman). I told him: ‘What do you want me to do, file a report at the police station to get you in trouble?’

“We caught them in the act because even he said he did not know what they were doing over there. Because it was him who got all the powder and threw it away. I said you removed the proof and only God knows what would happen if I went to the police... But I had clear and concrete proof.”

The issue came to public attention weeks before the last general election in 2013 when the secret recording of Dr Abela surfaced on the internet.

It was the second recording of Dr Abela to emerge after on an earlier one he was heard to say that he had managed to stop the police proceeding over another incident at a club after he found “a Labourite policeman” at the station.

Dr Abela took offence to the comment and told Dr Zammit Maempel: "You should be ashamed of yourself passing such remarks." He also pointed at the lawyer and said: "They killed my father with those block of ice claims". 

After the magistrate put off the case for judgement, Dr Abela walked out of the courtroom, saying he could not accept such comments.

 

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