Updated at 5pm with PL reaction to PN statement

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri must resign and former prison director Alex Dalli investigated, following the shock findings of an Ombudsman’s report into conditions in Corradino Prison, political parties and NGOs said on Saturday.

The report, published on Friday, found significant evidence of widespread abuse, bullying and abuse within prison during the tenure of Alex Dalli as director of prisons.

Prison during Dalli’s tenure was characterised by dehumanising tactics and a culture of abuse, with a “dysfunctional administration” and “a total disregard of the Prisons Regulations on a systemic basis.”

Those findings confirm reports by Times of Malta and others about the way in which prisoners were treated at the time. Suicides within prison quadrupled during Dalli’s tenure, which ended in late 2021.

PN: Ministry of National Insecurity and Inhumane Treatment

In a statement on Saturday, the Nationalist Party said that under Byron Camilleri's leadership the Ministry of National Security "has turned into a Ministry of National Insecurity and Inhumane Treatment." 

The PN said the Ombudsman's report confirmed that the management of Corradino Prison under Alex Dalli, "whom Byron Camilleri defended for years, was inhumane." 

This is not the first scandal involving areas that fall under the responsibility of Camilleri's ministry to emerge in past months. PN highlighted the case of identity cards issued irregularly with false addresses, the extension of Angelo Gafa's contract as Police Commissioner and corruption involving LESA fines. 

"Byron Camilleri has not even shown a willingness to implement reforms, let alone a vision or a plan," PN leader Bernard Grech said.

"For the Maltese and Gozitan people to have peace of mind regarding their security, we need new leadership – one that certainly does not include Byron Camilleri."

PL: Disciplined forces have best conditions in history

In a statement issued Saturday afternoon the Labour Party shot down the call for Byron Camilleri's resignation from what it defined as the "extremist faction of the PN". 

The PL insisted "the disciplined forces in our country were given the best conditions in history and the best resources, our country is among the ten safest in the world, our country addressed major challenges such as irregular immigration, initiated a great series of prison reforms, and much more."

ADPD: Arrest Dalli

The Green Party said it is disgusted by the facts confirmed by the Ombudsman regarding the operations, rampant racism, intimidation, and poor prison conditions under Dalli's leadership.

ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci urged action against Dalli and all officials involved in light of the gravity of the facts uncovered.

She urged the police commissioner to start making arrests, starting with Dalli, and launch an immediate investigation.

"Do we really need to tell him this? Does a magistrate have to spell it out for him? Is he incapable of reading plain black and white on his own?"

ADPD general secretaary Ralph Cassar said it had to be the Ombudsman who confirmed the persistent media reports about brutal behaviour, rampant racism, dog attacks, disgraceful conduct, and humiliation tactics used by a gang of officers under Dalli’s leadership.

“These people have no place in any sector of public service, let alone in an institution that is supposed to be ‘corrective.’"

In separate statements, both political party Momentum and rule of law NGO Repubblika expressed horror at the abuse uncovered by the Ombudsman’s report.

Dalli still serves as special envoy

Momentum committee member Matthew Agius said the degrading treatment revealed in the report was unacceptable.

Apart from allowing journalists into prison – something a court determined was justified in late 2023 – Momentum said MPs should be given the opportunity to make unannounced visits to Corradino. This occurred in other countries and would serve as a deterrent to abuse, Agius said.

Repubblika said the Ombudsman’s findings confirmed “what we’ve long known about Alexander Dalli’s administration”.

As Home Affairs Minister, Camilleri had repeatedly defended Dalli’s work and subsequently appointed him a special envoy to Libya – a role he maintains to this day.

Repubblika said both Camilleri and Dalli’s positions were no longer tenable. The minister must resign and Dalli must be fired, it said.

It also noted how many of Dalli’s abuses as prisons director had been exposed through media reports, based on testimonies of former inmates or prison workers.

The government now wanted to protect public officials – like Dalli – from being personally liable for crimes committed in the course of their work while also disqualifying media reports from being accepted as the basis for magisterial inquiries, it noted.

Under a reform presented by the government this week, the only evidence admissible in court will be valid grounds for requesting a magisterial inquiry. Citizens requesting such an inquiry will also have to file a police report and then wait six months before turning to the courts.

“Not only did the police not investigate Dalli and other prison officials who imitated him,” Repubblika noted. "Minister Camilleri defended and promoted him.”

Repubblika noted that prisoners were entrusted into the government’s care. If it systematically abused them, then anyone who found themselves in its bad books risked a similar fate.

The NGO thanked the Ombudsman for his report.