Children should not pay the price for the alleged crimes their parents commit, former president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said on Saturday, after a young mother-of-two was denied bail.

In a post on Facebook, the former president said she was "shocked" by the refusal of bail for a mother of two babies.

On Wednesday, a former senior gaming authority official and his wife were charged with money laundering in connection to his work at the regulator.

The couple, Jason Farrugia, 34, and his wife, Christine, 26, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were denied bail. They have two infants, a three-month-old baby and another one-and-a-half-year-old child.

"I am not excusing any allegations posed at the accused. But it is important for children’s best interest to be considered," said Coleiro-Preca.

"There are other means to keep secure, an alleged accused, when children are concerned. I believe the court could have issued, for example, house arrest so that the mother can continue to take care of her children," Coleiro Preca said.

"Why should children pay for any alleged or not, criminal acts of their parents? Let’s not make children prisoners too," Coleiro Preca said.

The former president today serves as the head of Eurochild, an organisation that advocates for children's rights as well as their well-being.