French couple files protest against consultant psychiatrist

Alain Schmitt and Laurence Liegeois, a French couple being held in Malta pending extradition proceedings, and a number of their relatives and friends in Malta, have filed a judicial protest against Dr Joseph Spiteri, consultant psychiatrist at Mt Carmel Hospital and against the Ministry of Health and of Justice and the Medical Association.

They said that Dr Spiteri was responsible for the rapid deterioration of Mr Schmitt health through lack of care at the forensics section of Mt Carmel Hospital. They added that Mr Schmitt was also being robbed of his dignity, and Dr Spiteri was not even allowing Mr Schmitt's son and other family and friends to have regular contact with him.

Furthermore, according to the protest, Dr Spiteri had failed in his duties when he did not give the court a correct picture of Mr Schmitt's state of health and even tried to make fun of him by wrongly telling the court that he had a good breakfast before going on a hunger strike - a strike motivated by the terrible conditions in which he was being kept.

Dr Spiteri was requested to step down and warned that he would be held responsible if Mr Schmitt's health continued to deteriorate.

The Health Ministry and the Medical Association were called upon to investigate Dr Spiteri's actions.