Alex Dalli will stay on as special envoy to Libya, Robert Abela said on Thursday, despite a damning Ombudsman report into the former prison director's term.

“Let me answer very clearly, Alex Dalli is not going to be removed,” the Prime Minister said as he defended Dalli’s stint as prison director. 

“Alex Dalli inherited anarchy in the prison; he brought that anarchy to order,” he said. 

Last week, the Ombudsman published a report detailing how Dalli’s prison degraded inmates and subjected them to pervasive intimidation and fear, with one inmate describing the place as a "factory of evil".

The report revealed that during the tenure of the former Director of Prisons, between 2018 and 2021, the Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF) was plagued by systemic maladministration and degrading treatment of prisoners.

But on Thursday, Abela defended Dalli’s tenure as prison director, suggesting the Ombudsman should consider the situation the ex-prison director inherited.

“It's easy to sit behind a desk, censure in that comfort, and write reports behind that desk. But you need to put yourself in the situation as it was a number of years ago,” Abela said.

The PM said Dalli took over a prison where “inmates used to organise riots and the prevalence of drugs in the facility was as high as ever”.

Abela said “certain episodes” had meant decisions had to be taken, something Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri had done.

Dalli suspended himself in 2021 following a string of suicides and deaths behind bars that saw simmering concerns about his methods boil over. 

Abela said the government has introduced measures in the prison to promote rehabilitation. 

“But to come to a situation where we could focus on rehab, the phase of bringing back order was needed,” Abela said. 

“But I will certainly not censure the work of Alex Dalli. He was there (at the prison) during a very sensitive time, and if he didn’t address the prison’s difficulties of the day, we would probably still have a jungle for a prison that is in anarchy". 

Dalli is currently a coordinator for the Malta-Libya Coordination Centre with a reported salary of €97,000. 

Asked if he felt comfortable keeping Dalli on after the report, the PM said the ex-prisons director had done a “great job” at controlling irregular migration to Malta.

“He is making a crucial contribution to the country and is performing miracles towards controlling irregular immigration,” Abela said.  

“Look at Italy and across Europe. There is a scourge of irregular immigration, and people are rebelling because of it,” Abela said. 

Malta “is winning the fight against irregular migration,” and Alex Dalli plays an important role in that regard, he said.