'Clash of values' led to prison board chairman's resignation

The chairman of the Prison Board of Visitors resigned last week because he felt he does not share the same values on life and health as the prison's administration, The Times learnt yesterday.

"I have given this a lot of consideration, but there comes a time where you're either complicit, or you have to call a spade a spade and let the authorities face the reality of things and assume some responsibility for it," Mario Felice said.

His resignation was tendered on Good Friday and reported in the Sunday paper Illum. He has been asked to continue fulfilling his responsibilities till next Monday.

Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said when contacted that he wanted to consult the people involved, look into the matter and try to get Dr Felice to change his mind.

"If not, I will have to identify somebody else to step into his shoes. We are examining the problem and will decide accordingly," he said.

This situation emerged when prison director Sandro Gatt decided to place Melchior Spiteri in a maximum security cell early last month, after a tip-off that he planned to escape.

Dr Felice is questioning this move because he points out that the prison director is authorised to take such action for precautionary security measures only and in extraordinary circumstances.

"What really bothered me is that it's not clear whether the measures were entirely precautionary. If the prisoner planned to escape the prison authorities were already on the alert," Dr Felice points out.

"So does it justify placing the prisoner in a bare cell? I accept that there may be emergency measures, say civil strife, but if they're on the alert society would hope the prison is sufficiently secure, otherwise we're in big trouble if the prison cannot even manage its own residents," he added.

Another issue is that once Mr Spiteri was put in solitary confinement this move bound Mr Gatt to keep him there no longer than 48 hours, plus he first had to obtain ministerial authorisation and, further, notify Dr Felice, as part of the prison's checks and balances.

"The notification is not just a formal requirement, just rules thrown in to make life bureaucratic; we've got enough bureaucracy. This is a system created to ensure people are dealt with in a civilised manner," he said, referring to Winston Churchill's famous quote, "The best way to judge a society is by the way it treats its prisoners".

Dr Felice points out that not only was Mr Spiteri detained for some 70 hours but he was never informed - he actually discovered the situation by coincidence.

"I was not informed and I'm not aware if there was ministerial authorisation and quite frankly it is irrelevant. So if I couldn't be trusted with the information I may as well move out. If the prison director acted alone, well then he should shoulder the responsibility," Dr Felice said.

"The Prison Board of Visitors has a number of responsibilities. Society at large does not have ready access to prison facilities and I have always understood my role as a member of society with a mandate to verify that detention does not lead to further punishment.

"We assert that detention is the punishment. You are not detained in order to be punished, but you are punished by way of detention. As a prison board we do not run the prison and we have no such grand illusions," he stressed. The board's role is to monitor detention conditions, receive complaints from inmates and make recommendations. The law stipulates that its recommendations should be given due consideration.

When Mr Spiteri was placed in the maximum security he tried to take his life by "inflicting wounds on his arms", so he was then confined to Mount Carmel Hospital for 48 hours.

When he returned to prison, he was placed in a cell that "was manifestly unsafe and posed risks, both to his health and his life". When the board issued its recommendations, these were ignored for 30 hours.

"It's pointless having a board that observes things, yet powerless to do anything about it," Dr Felice said.

When contacted for his version, Mr Gatt denied that the cell Mr Spiteri was put in was unsafe and said it had been cleared with the psychiatrist. He also stressed that his decision to put the inmate in solitary confinement was purely for security purposes and not to discipline the prisoner.

"I received confidential information on March 6 that Melchior was planning to escape so we put him in the maximum security cell. I could ill afford to have someone escape at the time of the election," he said.

Mr Gatt added that the board was not there to interfere in the prison's administration, but just to recommend.

"It's not the job of Mario Felice to tell me where to put the prisoners. He can recommend as much as he wants, but not interfere."

This is not the first time Dr Felice resigned his post. In January, the entire board stepped down en bloc over the lack of dialogue with the prison's management, which it felt inhibited its functions, before resuming its duties.