Lack of media access raised in Euro Parliament

Green MEP Helene Flautre has raised the Maltese government's rejection of the request by 100 Maltese journalists to be allowed to visit detention centres, in a question tabled in the European Parliament.

On the initiative of Alternattiva Demokratika's spokesman on EU Affairs, Arnold Cassola, Ms Flautre asked if the Commission was aware that the Maltese government consistently denied media access to the closed detention centres for irregular immigrants.

She also pointed out that after receiving a petition signed by 100 Maltese journalists the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior, Tonio Borg, replied that "it is the government's policy" not to give media access to detention centres, be they prisons or detention centres for irregular immigrants.

The conditions prevailing at closed detention centres, such as the Safi Barracks, have been severely criticised by reputable international organisations - among them the UNCHR and Amnesty International, she noted.

Ms Flautre concluded by asking what form of action the Commission intends to take with regard to the Maltese government, so as to ensure the transparent running of these centres, including the possibility of regular access to journalists, as required by the European Convention of Human Rights.

Professor Cassola said that in a democratic society it is unheard of that the media do not have access to such places of detention.

"The Maltese public had the right to be informed of conditions in these centres, so as to ensure that the people there are treated in a just and dignified way", he said.