Labour members of Cabinet visited prisoners before the general election and pledged an amnesty should the party be elected to power, the Nationalist Party spokesman for the sector, Jason Azzopardi, claimed yesterday.

The claim was later categorically denied by the Government, which said the amnesty was an instrument in a larger plan to reform the prison system after years of neglect by the previous administration.

Speaking in the morning, Dr Azzopardi said the pledge had now been carried out by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and was so open-ended that only a few prisoners would fail to benefit.

There has to be a valid reason. That Labour wins a general election is not a serious justification

In all, 143 prisoners will be released by the end of the year under the amnesty which, Dr Azzopardi pointed out, was equivalent to two whole prison divisions at the Corradino Correctional Facility.

“We are not against the concept of an amnesty but there has to be a valid reason for it. That Labour wins a general election is not a serious justification,” he said.

Asked to substantiate his allegation that Labour MPs had visited the prison and pledged to give an amnesty, Dr Azzopardi stood by his claim but said: “The information will be given at the opportune time.”

He criticised the minister for announcing the amnesty during a meeting with prisoners, “so he could be cheered”, arguing it showed lack of sensitivity towards victims of crime.

“The minister’s presence was uncalled for. Hugging and the hero’s welcome given to the Home Affairs Minister by prisoners is definitely not on.”

Going over the pardon’s conditions, he said only sex offenders and those guilty of human trafficking would not benefit and pointed out that were very few of these.

However, he also questioned the arbitrariness of the criteria.

“Is pushing and trafficking drugs not as serious as paedophilia?” he asked.

Taken to task by journalists for suggesting an amnesty in 2007, following the ordination of a new Archbishop, Dr Azzopardi defended his stand, arguing this was only a suggestion from a backbencher.

“All I did was ask a parliamentary question, following a suggestion made by an NGO,” he said.

“Even so, a new archbishop is ordained only once every 25 years,” he said.

Asked whether he ruled out a similar amnesty following a future PN success at the polls, Dr Azzopardi said that the last government that gave an amnesty for an electoral win was Labour in 1996.

“Yes, I definitely rule out a similar amnesty when the PN wins an election,” he said.

In its statement in the evening, the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security listed all the amnesties that had been granted over the years by different administrations.

It said the latest was among the shortest ones. Nationalist governments, it said had granted amnesties to individuals, “some of them still recalled in the collective memory of the Maltese”.

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