Former director to head prison inquiry

The government has defended its decision to appoint former prison director Emanuel Cassar to "independently" investigate the shortcomings during the tenure of his successor, citing the man's experience in the field.

The Justice Ministry has appointed an independent board - headed by Mr Cassar and assisted by Martin Scicluna, security adviser to the Prime Minister, and psychologist Mary-Ann Agius - to investigate several reports on alleged shortcomings in the prison.

Among the allegations, the board will also be looking into a The Sunday Times report that a notorious prisoner, Leli Camilleri known as Il-Bully, was running the show behind bars.

Superintendent Sandro Gatt, who resigned as prison director on Tuesday, had admitted that Mr Camilleri's involvement as an intermediary between himself and the prisoners was more or less standard procedure.

He had explained that if a prisoner wanted prison leave, Mr Camilleri took care of the request of the Maltese and Europeans, while Tunisian prisoner Mohsen Mosbah handled the requests of the Arabs.

However, Supt. Gatt said that he had inherited the system where prisoners acted as intermediaries from Mr Cassar, when he took over the helm in 2002, so the move to appoint Mr Cassar to investigate this practice raised eyebrows.

If Supt. Gatt had inherited this practice from Mr Cassar, would Mr Cassar not have an interest in ensuring certain facts did not emerge? So why did the government choose Mr Cassar to head the investigation?

"While not wanting to prejudice the appointed board from carrying out its function in an independent manner, it is worth pointing out that the brief of the board is not limited to looking into claims by the media, such as the one you quoted (where Il-Bully runs the show in prison)," ministry spokesman Darrell Pace told The Times.

During his tenure, Mr Cassar had also faced a number of prison escapes and more recently, in February, the Constitutional Court ruled that he had treated prisoner Meinrad Calleja in a degrading manner.

Despite this, the ministry still strongly believes in Mr Cassar's vast experience: "The respect that he enjoys in the field makes him the ideal candidate to head this board.

"Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that he is assisted by Martin Scicluna and Mary-Ann Agius, who are also both renowned for their integrity and professionalism in their respective areas," Mr Pace added.

Meanwhile, the prisoners' support group, Mid-Dlam għad Dawl, encouraged authorities to choose a new prison director who is not a member of the police corps or the army.

"No other EU country follows this practice. The work of police officers is not to monitor prisoners but to investigate and catch those who break the law," the NGO said.

Reacting to the news that prison director Supt. Gatt had resigned and asked to resume his duties within the police corps, the organisation issued a statement yesterday stressing that a civil prison should be run by a civilian.

"Although we recognise and appreciate the work police are providing within the prison, we feel and reiterate that their presence should be slowly phased out," it said. The organisation also took the opportunity to thank Supt. Gatt for his help and cooperation during his term.