Joe Azzopardi says it is 'unacceptable' to have inquiry re-examined by same magistrate

Joseph Azzopardi described the decision taken by the Attorney General to entrust the reopened inquiry into his son's death to the same magistrate who had conducted the original inquiry as "unbelievable."

The AG announced that the Nicholas Azzopardi case will be re-examined by Antonio Vella who had conducted the original inquiry. The AG said Vella will "see whether the new facts that have come to light have any bearing on his original conclusions."

Joseph Azzopardi, who has not rested since his son's mysterious death while in police custody in 2008, said he will "never accept" the inquiry to be re-examined by Vella and will explore all avenues to make sure that the inquiry is led by somebody else.

Azzopardi explained to MaltaToday that just three hours before his son passed away in hospital, despite his grave physical condition Nicholas Azzopardi "was in good spirits and was lucid." Joseph Azzopardi said that about three hours before Nicholas passed away, Antonio  Vella had interrogated him together with Assistant police commissioner Michael Cassar. When the two came out they explained that they had not recorded the interrogation because they could not understand Nicholas well."

Joseph Azzopardi asked why the interrogation was not recorded as this was "very important evidence." Azzopardi also added that Vella had asked Reno Azzopardi, the victim's brother, to hand over the memory card which contained video footage of Nicholas Azzopardi explaining what happened to him.

Joesph Azzopardi explained that when his son Reno, refused to hand over the memory card, he was warned that he will be arrested if he fails to hand over the card. After accepting the demand to handover the card as long as the family could keep a copy of the card, the Azzopardi family was accused of falsifying the card and fabricating the footage by the inquirers.  

Azzopardi stressed that the re-opened inquiry "should not make a scapegoat out of Adrian Lia" because Lia, who was the last officer to escort his son Nicholas from his lock-up cell, minutes before he allegedly jumped off the Floriana bastions, and incurred the injuries that would prove fatal, was not alone on the night his son was interrogated. Azzopardi said that Inspector Graziella Muscat and police officer Rueben Zammit should be held responsible together with Adrian Lia.  

Nicholas Azzopardi had been summoned for questioning and later detained following a report filed by his estranged wife over family matters in 2008 (see timeline, below).

Azzopardi was interrogated and detained by the Vice Squad, of which Sergeant Adrian Lia was at the time a member. Lia was the officer entrusted with escorting Azzopardi from his lock-up cell to the CID offices.

A police statement had said that Nicholas Azzopardi had "jumped" off the bastion after running away from his escorting officer through the CID yard.

Azzopardi was grievously injured and recovered at Mater Dei's Intensive Therapy Unit for some days, but died on 22 April soon after he was moved into a ward.

Shortly before he died, Nicholas Azzopardi had confided with his family, and a magistrate, that he had been brutally beaten by two policemen while in custody. Family members filmed him making these claims. In the video, later made available by MediaToday, Azzopardi was clearly heard alleging that the police had 'beaten him to a pulp' ("Qlajt xeba tal-beati pawli").

He recounted how he was taunted and beaten in the lock-up, but also admitted that he retaliated against one of the interrogators by crushing him against the lock-up's metal door.

In turn, an officer - possibly trained in martial arts - allegedly flung a side kick, breaking four of Azzopardi's ribs and puncturing his lung.

The victim told his family he lost consciousness and only fully came to his senses some 13 days later in hospital.

The police always denied Azzopardi was pushed or beaten.

Soon after Nicholas Azzopardi's death had made the headlines, the police revealed that "a policeman was slightly injured trying to save Nicholas Azzopardi from jumping off a wall" .

Lia: a proven liar, now charged with theft

According to the police, the officer who was escorting Nicholas Azzopardi, was treated in hospital for scratches on his forearms and chest injuries, giving a new twist to the mystery, which became even more intriguing when it became known that the officer in question was Adrian Lia: the same officer who had duped the nation into believing he had behaved heroically by jumping into the ice cold sea in Sliema to save Mary Farrugia on 23 December 1997.
Lia - then a 23-year-old police constable - had been awarded a gold medal for bravery after he claimed to have jumped into the sea to save 54-year-old Farrugia from Sliema as she was drowning near Qui Si Sana at around 5.15am.
His fabricated story not only eventually embarrassed the government and the police, but also made it to the official police press releases issued by the corps.

The son of a retired Police Sergeant-Major who has recently been released from prison, Adrian Lia yesterday appeared before a Magistrate where Police Inspectors Fabian Fleri and Melvyn Camilleri presented evidence that allegedly pins him to a series of thefts from police headquarters.

The court heard how Lia - who resigned from the force a few weeks ago - admitted to stealing some €30,000 in cash which was kept as evidence in case related to illegal lotto and gambling.

Inspector Fabian Fleri said the sergeant had admitted to 10 thefts between 2009 and 2011, including a theft of €10,000 and other amounts of €6,000, €2,000 and €1,000.  

The 37-year-old disgraced sergeant from San Gwann was arrested two weeks ago when investigators had pinned him to the thefts after police took the evidence bag to court and found it to be empty.

Lia is understood to be of an athletic disposition, and plays Futsal for Bidnija.

'Independent or nothing'

Calls for the re-opening of the inquiry into Nicholas Azzopardi's death were triggered following the revelation by MaltaToday into Sergeant Adrian Lia's arrest and subsequent arraignment over the €30,000 theft from the police headquarters.

A week ago, MaltaToday revealed that Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici had refused to reopen the inquiry, while Police Commissioner John Rizzo had asked the Attorney General to reopen the magisterial inquiry.

"You may recall that two inquiries were carried out over the Nicholas Azzopardi case," he replied when asked specifically to reopen the investigation. "Despite the fact that the documentation in relation to both inquiries has been open to scrutiny by journalists, their findings were never put in doubt."

However six days after the publication of this statement on maltatoday.com.mt, Mifsud Bonnici denied that he had ever opposed the re-opening of the inquiry.

The minister was referring to separate inquiries: the first conducted by Judge Albert Manche, who had been assigned to conduct a special inquiry into the circumstances of Nicholas Azzopardi's death. Manche had ruled out any wrongdoing by the police, while Magistrate Anthony Vella - who had conducted a magisterial inquiry into the same incident, and had spoken to Azzopardi before he died - had drawn the same conclusions.

However, following the latest revelations of the police sergeant whose testimony was central to both inquiries, Police Commissioner John Rizzo on Saturday publicly called on the Attorney General to reopen the case in order to "remove any doubts" about the behaviour and integrity of the police.

But Joseph Azzopardi has warned that any new inquiry "must now be totally independent of government. If not, the inquiry would mean nothing to me and my family".

Separation of roles

In a pending Private Members' Motion that calls for a reform in the justice system and police, Nationalist MP Franco Debono insists that Magistrates must have a separate role as inquiring magistrates and presiding judges, and a pool of magistrates should be formed, specialising in inquiries.

"It is odd how a magistrate who heads an inquiry would also judge a case," Debono told MaltaToday, adding that the same issue concerns the Attorney General and the Police who hold discretionary powers which limit any citizen's rights.