In certain prison divisions, 16 inmates are being kept in a dormitory of just 48 square metres and they share one toilet, a prison advocacy group complained yesterday.

Conditions go against prison rules

Fondazzjoni Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl said this was degrading and blamed the lack of space on an increasing number of prisoners.

These prisoners, it said, slept in two-tiered bunk beds placed next to each other, almost touching.

They also had small cupboards that did not lock, which often led to arguments over missing items.

Most of their clothes were kept in plastic bags piled on top of each other in small rooms close by.

In other sections there were beds in the corridor while some inmates were forced to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor.

These conditions, coupled with the cold, went against the prison’s rules as well as local and EU laws, and stripped the prisoners of all dignity, the group said.

Fondazzjoni Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl appealed to the authorities to find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.