A magistrate has dismissed claims of poor conditions at the Valletta lock-up, which is being temporarily used to hold people who are denied bail.
Director of Prisons, Lt Col Alex Dalli explained in submissions that the authorities had to take drastic decisions to protect prisoners and staff at Corradino Correctional Facility from COVID-19.
The Valletta lock-up was being used temporarily as a “crucial and life-saving measures" to ensure that the state prison remained virus-free.
Lt Col Dalli was making submissions following an application by lawyers for Hanibal N Bashir Mohamed, a 33-year old Libyan living in Gozo. He was arrested by the police Drug Squad some days ago after drugs were found inside a sizeable loudspeaker at his Marsalforn apartment. Bail was granted on Tuesday.
The man’s lawyers argued that conditions at the courts’ lockup amount to “inhuman and degrading treatment”.
Whilst rebutting the allegation, the director explained that the courts’ lockup had been fully equipped with adequate sanitary facilities including brand new toilets and a shower, with CCF officers monitoring the place 24/7.
The setting up of this division for quarantine purposes was a temporary measure needed to make sure that newly-detained persons were virus-free before being moved to CCF, he explained.
Prisons chapel converted to staff dorm
In other precautions, contact visits with inmates had also been stopped and prison officers, including himself, had stayed at CCF since the COVID-19 outbreak.
The prison chapel had been temporarily converted into a dormitory for officers, including himself.
Just as all citizens had been deprived of their personal liberties, so too prison personnel were doing their part to stop the spread of the disease.
Magistrate Joseph Mifsud threw out the lawyers’ argument about the conditions at the courts’ lockup.
When deciding upon the accused’s request he made it clear that bail was being granted only on account of the fact that the prosecution did not object, as long as stringent measures were imposed, including that of taking up residence at an alternative address in Malta.