Mark Micallef
Ministry probe over inmates who act as middlemen
The Home Affairs Ministry has launched a probe into the prison director's practice of having two inmates act as intermediaries for the rest of the prisoners.
The investigation was launched in the wake of a report in The Sunday Times which revealed that the Dutch inmate at the centre of prison guard abuse allegations used prisoner Leli Camilleri, known as Il-Bully, as an intermediary to help him obtain prison leave.
Prison director Sandro Gatt admitted as much to The Sunday Times and even confirmed that Mr Camilleri's involvement in such requests appears to be more or less standard procedure in prison.
He downplayed the matter, saying that Mr Camilleri and an Arab prisoner (Tunisian Mohsen Mosbah) relay the complaints and requests of their mates - one taking care of Europeans and the other of the Arabs - but that prisoners can still have direct access to him if they want to.
The Dutch drug trafficker, 32-year-old Perry Toornstra, gave a different version, however, saying that inmates could only obtain certain things of they went through Mr Camilleri.
Even the former chairman of the prison board Mario Felice attested to this state of affairs: "... I don't want to elaborate further, but when I was active in the prison until very recently many prisoners were denied certain possibilities, only to gain them through the intervention of this individual. I don't think I need comment further on whether that is healthy," Dr Felice said.
Reacting to the story and the contents of an interview carried out with Dr Felice, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry, Darrell Pace said: "The Ministry is already looking into the claims and allegations made in your report and Dr Felice's interview and will be taking the appropriate action in due course. Any further information in support of the same claims and allegations should be forwarded to this Ministry in the shortest time possible."
Other inmates and a prison guard, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gave a similar picture to that of Mr Toornstra, insisting that Mr Camilleri "runs the show in prison".
Mr Gatt stressed that Mr Camilleri merely relayed the message in Mr Toornstra's case and that inmates are not forced to go through Mr Camilleri - in fact he sees a number of prisoners directly every day.
Dr Felice, however, insisted: "Certainly Mr Camilleri leads a very prominent role in the prison. He enjoys a lot of things which others do not, including access to the prison director..."
Mr Camilleri, a convicted drug trafficker who is serving 35 years for planting a bomb outside the home of Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar, also insisted he had simply relayed a message in Mr Toornstra's case.
With regard to his own role he said: "The director put me in charge to relay the messages of inmates to him... Everyone is claiming things about me, painting me as God knows what. I'm not an angel but I'm not the devil either."
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G. Falzon
Aug 25th 2008, 15:50
@ Mario Mifsud
Agreed 100%. That is a fact. But I expect the opposition to uncover the real failures of a government. Only in this manner shall an opposition win an election.
@ S.Schembri
Let us all move away from this blindfold and hot-headedness of political bias and look at things objectively. The administration's failures are obvious, thanks to The Times among others. But the silence of the opposition confounds.
S.Schembri
Aug 25th 2008, 11:40
G Falzon you are the most funny person in the world !!!! who is in goverment the mlp or pn ? why in every difficult thing you people ask the mlp where are you !!!??? is it not the job of the goverment to do things and take responsability.if you want to the Opposition make way and we take th goverment post. the goverment was elected because the people tghought the the gonzi pn regime wascompitent ... now everyone can see that there is no competence at all shame on the ministers for allowing such things .... maybe the ministers nowadays have no responsabilities just sit stare smile and sign ...
Joseph Caruana
Aug 25th 2008, 11:26
The Minister's spokesman said as follows:"The Ministry is ALREADY looking into the claims and allegations made in your report and Dr Felice's interview and will be taking the appropriate action in due course."
Since the comment was given to the paper yesterday for it to be printed today, that "ALREADY" means a lot. It is obvious that the authorities came to know what was happening and were doing their homework BEFORE the report was published in The Sunday Times.
We shouldn't expect anyone to go trumpeting around about having launched an internal probe.
mario mifsud
Aug 25th 2008, 10:40
@ G Falzon
WHERE WAS THE GOVERMENT, COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND MINISTER? is more appropriate
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2008, 10:32
@ Mr A Dalli - I completely agree with you. It's like watching a film!
And why did it take a foreign inmate to say these things? Is it because this guy's tentacles move far and wide? ... Beyond the walls of Kordin? And if so, how do they reach out?
And am I myself in danger for even putting these questions? I wonder.
A.Dalli
Aug 25th 2008, 09:51
@Franco Farrugia.
Although I completely understand your views and concur with them. I must add that at least something will be done, maybe with thanks to the newspaper. I was completely shocked when I read about the middleman etc... It is something that one sees on TV, on episodes like prison break. This should not be tollerated. There should never ever be an inmate who has more access to the prison authorities, inmates should feel free to contact the prison director, which although stated that they are, I am sure, there is some kind of bullying going on, whereby if they do so, they will probably live to regret it from the special group of inmates who 'officially' have preferece contact.
G. Falzon
Aug 25th 2008, 09:46
Where are the Hon. Members of the Opposition?
Franco Farrugia
Aug 25th 2008, 09:19
But why should the Government act following newspaper articles?
Hasn't it got its ears to the ground, then?
After all, even the Director of the Prisons knew what was going on.