The owner of a Valletta pub has filed a judicial protest against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia and Nationalist Party deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami over the allegations they made connecting his bar to criminal activities. 

The owner of The Stable Pub in Sappers Street, Valletta, Jason Azzopardi, complained about the descriptions used by the blogger when mentioning his bar. He threatened legal action.

He particularly complained about the use of the words "a heavy scene" and "shady-looking men" and "Valletta heavies and a couple of others who really should not have been there". 

He said other parts of the blog published on Monday insinuated that the bar’s toilet cubicle was being used for drug taking and other dangerous acts.

In his judicial protest, Mr Azzopardi vehemently denied the claims, which he described as “completely untrue, unfounded, false and defamatory” and claimed that they caused damage to the bar's reputation.

He argued that the allegations, which he claimed were causing financial losses, had also been made by Dr Fenech Adami during a public speech yesterday. He said the allegations were made in public when he could reasonable expect them to be published in the media. 

In fact, he said, the allegations were published in several newspapers and other media and Mr Azzopardi reserved the right to also sue the newspapers' editors, authors and journalists responsible for such publications. 

The judicial protest was signed by lawyer Alexander Schembri and legal procurator Melissa Anastasi.