The director of prisons has issued a public apology after declaring on television on Wednesday that the biggest dangers that journalists faced were tripping over and spraining an ankle, or getting an electric shock from their computer.

Alex Dalli, a former army colonel, made the startling declaration while being interviewed on TVM's  L-Erbgħa Fost il-Gimgħa. He was making a comparison between the dangers faced by prison warders and journalists.

The surprised interviewer, Mark Lawrence Zammit, said events involving journalists over the past three years showed otherwise, a pointed reference to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, among other matters.

Dalli's comments drew several complaints by journalists, while Opposition leader Bernard Grech described the declaration as shocking and arrogant, especially in view of the assassination of Caruana Galizia. He called on the prime minister to dissociate himself from the remarks and expressed solidarity with journalists.

In his apology, Dalli said he did not mean disrespect and regretted his comparison.

He said that the fact that he had accepted an invitation to be interviewed, and the introduction of a protocol for journalists at the prisons, reflected his respect for journalists and journalism as one of the pillars of democracy.