A court yesterday heard that a prisoner suffering emotional distress was placed in solitary confinement for over 48 hours in a room where a two-metre long cable was attached to the wall.
Testifying in the case against Melchior Spiteri, 33, from Cospicua, who is accused of threatening public officers in March of this year, the former chairman of the Prison Board, Mario Felice, told the court that he had resigned over this case because of his strong disapproval at the way Mr Spiteri was treated.
Mr Spiteri is serving a 30-year jail term for murder.
Representing himself in court, Mr Spiteri told the court, presided over by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, that because of a "lie" he was held in solitary confinement in the maximum security, division six of the prison. The "lie" that made the rounds in prison was about a plan he supposedly had to escape, something which was simply not true, he insisted.
On a number of occasions he had asked to speak to the prison director but to no avail. He said: "I just wanted to tell him that it was all a lie".
At the time he had threatened the public officer he was going through a bad patch and suffering from depression.
When summoned to the office of the director, Mr Spiteri said that the director, Sandro Gatt, told him that he should never speak to "his people" in that manner and ordered the officers present to remove him from his office.
Taking the witness stand, Dr Felice said that Mr Gatt decided to place Mr Spiteri in solitary confinement after a tip-off that he planned to escape just days before the March 8 general election. The prison director was only authorised to take such action for precautionary security measures and in extraordinary circumstances.
He said it was wholly irresponsible to place a prisoner, going through such emotional distress and who had cut his arms shortly before, in a room where a two-metre long cable was found. He was not consulted before the action was taken and found such behaviour abusive, Dr Felice said.
The case has been put off for sentencing.