The defamation suit filed by Minister Carmelo Abela against PN MP Jason Azzopardi over allegations linking the minister to the 2010 HSBC failed heist will be contested, court was told on Monday.
Last month Azzopardi claimed that Abela allegedly aided the mastermind behind the attempted HSBC bank heist for a €300,000 payment from the loot.
The accusation came days after Abela denied any involvement in the heist that ended in a violent shoot-out, describing any links to him as "stories, fairytales and inventions".
When the case was called on Monday morning, Abela’s lawyer Pawlu Lia, informed Magistrate Rachel Montebello that Azzopardi’s lawyer had sought his consent for a deferment of the case, so as to file a reply to the minister’s claims.