Justice Minister Owen Bonnici this afternoon refused to publish an affidavit which he said revealed that former PN minister Jason Azzopardi had intervened to reach a deal over a piece of land involving the former Lowenbrau brewery.

The minister said he did not want to publish the affidavit yet but would do so in the future, and instead told journalists to investigate further.

Dr Bonnici had last Saturday claimed that he had a sworn testimony that Dr Azzopardi had met with entrepreneur Zaren Vassallo to assure him a compromise could be found for the sale of the land. The claim prompted Dr Azzopardi to sue the minister. 

In a press conference, the minister accused Dr Azzopardi of preaching good governance while he used a different yardstick when he was responsible for this deal.

He said that the Auditor General had said that Jason Azzopardi should shoulder political responsibility for “a scandalous deal” through which Mr Vassallo acquired a piece of public land on the cheap.

Both Dr Azzopardi and Mr Vassallo have denied the allegations.

Asked to state when, as Justice Minister, he was going to take action against the General Workers Union over a breach of contract highlighted in a separate report by the Auditor General, Minster Bonnici said that he is still looking into the case.

The report in which the Auditor General recommended court action against the GWU was published in October 2015.