Opposition leader Simon Busuttil expressed solidarity with shadow minister Jason Azzopardi today after he was summoned to court to face defamation charges.

He argued that Dr Azzopardi made his comments about former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit when he was still in government employment, and therefore Labour claims that the defamation application was made by a private citizen did not hold water. 

Speaking at Tarxien PN club, Dr Busuttil recalled how the case happened 10 months ago when Dr Azzopardi held a press conference about findings by the Data Protection Commissioner who said the police commissioner broke the law when data was made available to somebody else. 

Dr Azzopardi had asked why the government had then decided to retain Dr Zammit. Dr Busuttil said such things do not take place in real democracies and the country must not let them happen.

“Such an attack on Dr Azzopardi is an attack on us all and I will be there in court on Wednesday in solidarity with Dr Azzopardi,” he said. 

Dr Busuttil said Dr Azzopardi, in his capacity as Opposition spokesman, condemned Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for keeping Mr Zammit in his public position as CHOGM security co-ordinator.

Dr Zammit occupied a public position so it was not correct to say that he made the complaint with the police as a private citizen.

“These are not things that happen in a democracy. We cannot allow these things happen,” Dr Busuttil said.