Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi is expected to be arraigned in court next week accused of defaming a former police commissioner, a move which the PN has denounced as a threat to democracy.

Dr Azzopardi will be charged by the police with defaming Peter Paul Zammit during a political activity last year.

According to a police summons received last Wednesday, the MP will appear before Magistrate Joe Mifsud and faces a jail term of up to three months.

The Opposition accused the government of another attempt to muzzle it “while in a panic to divert public opinion from the Panama scandal”.

Surrounded by the PN parliamentary group, leader Simon Busuttil told a press conference the Opposition would fight this latest attempt to silence it.

He accused Dr Muscat of being a “threat to democracy”.

“It is ironic that on the day that Malta is celebrating Freedom Day, Dr Muscat and his government are taking measures to restrict freedom,” Dr Busuttil said.

“No matter all the tactics you may try to use, you will not silence us,” he vowed, addressing his comment directly at the Prime Minister.

Reacting, the government distanced itself from the police action, saying they were acting independently following a complaint instituted by Mr Zammit in his capacity as a private citizen.

The charges against Dr Azzopardi – one of the most active MPs on the Opposition benches – are connected to a criminal complaint filed by the former police commissioner, who served in the post between April 2013 and June 2014.

The complaint followed a press conference during which Dr Azzopardi had called for him to be sacked from an OPM post after an investigation carried out by the Data Protection Commissioner.

The data commissioner looked into how excerpts of an inspector’s personal file ended up being exhibited in court by the managing director of Malta Today, Saviour Balzan, during a libel case.

The information was published soon after Mr Zammit had made a request to see the file.

However, Mr Zammit has denied he passed the confidential data on to Mr Balzan.

According to police rules, only a police commissioner may ask to see the personal file of a member of the force.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Zammit confirmed he was insisting that Dr Azzopardi should be taken to court.

“I am not a politician, despite what everyone says. Dr Azzopardi cannot say that it was I who gave the file to Mr Balzan,” he insisted.

Pressed on the fact that the confidential information was passed on to Mr Balzan under his watch, Mr Zammit also denied this.

“Salvu Balzan quoted the file in his newspaper months before I became commissioner,” he told the Times of Malta yesterday.

In fact, Malta Today published excerpts from the inspector’s file in August 2013, four months after Mr Zammit was appointed commissioner.

Mr Zammit requested the file between July and August 2013, according to the police sergeant major responsible for keeping police personal records, as quoted by the Data Protection Commissioner.

The file “was not returned to the HR section until the former commissioner tendered his resignation from his position”.

Both police commissioners succeeding Mr Zammit, Ray Zammit and Michael Cassar, admitted the data leak but said that it didn’t happen under their watch.

When Mr Zammit resigned in June 2014 he was immediately offered the post of chief of security at the Office of the Prime Minster with the same financial package and perks as those enjoyed in his former post.

Despite the government distancing itself from the defamation suit, legal sources said that, while anyone could take such an action, it was the police and the Attorney General who had the final say on whether to proceed in court.

The last time an MP was charged in court for defamation during a political activity was back in 1979 in the heyday of Dom Mintoff’s administration. Former Nationalist MP Michael Falzon was accused of incitement when he was the editor of the then PN newspaper The Democrat.

Peter Paul Zammit and leak of personal data to Malta Today

April 12. 2013: Peter Paul Zammit, a legal procurator who did work for Labour before the election, is appointed Police Commissioner

July/August 2013: Mr Zammit asks the police HR unit to give him the personal file of Inspector Elton Taliana

August 21, 2013: Malta Today publishes an article on Inspector Taliana quoting his personal file at Police HQ

August 21, 2013: The inspector files a libel suit against Malta Today

June 2014: Mr Zammit steps down as police chief and is appointed head of security at the OPM

March 2, 2015: During the libel proceedings in court, Saviour Balzan, managing editor of Malta Today, presents excerpts from Insp. Taliana’s confidential file

March 10, 2015: The Data Protection Commissioner starts investigating the data leak from the office of the Police Commissioner after a complaint is filed by Inspector Taliana

June 18, 2015: The commissioner upholds the complaint and fines the Police Commissioner €500 for a clear breach of Data Protection. He states that Mr Balzan’s documents presented in court came from the personal police file held at the police chief’s office

June 19, 2015: The current Police Commissioner, Michael Cassar, admits the breach but states that it did not happen under his watch. His predecessor, Ray Zammit, who succeeded Mr Zammit, tells the Times of Malta that the breach occurred before he was appointed.