The Dutch inmate at the centre of prison guard abuse allegations - who escaped and was recaptured - used prisoner Leli Camilleri, known as Il-Bully, as an intermediary to help him obtain prison leave, The Sunday Times has learnt.

Mr Camilleri's involvement in such requests appears to be more or less standard procedure as prison director Sandro Gatt admitted when contacted yesterday.

"There is a system through which... if someone (a prisoner) wants prison leave for instance... (Camilleri) takes care of the requests of the Maltese (prisoners). He gathers them and brings them to me every day and an Arab man takes care of the requests of the Arabs... When I took over in 2002, the system was already in place but there were another two people," he said.

When asked whether he felt this special relationship with one particular inmate was healthy, Mr Gatt would only say that inmates had the option to go to him directly.

This newspaper was told by prison sources that Mr Camilleri was involved in the request for Dutch inmate Perry Toornstra's prison leave.

When asked, in a brief meeting in prison this week, the 32-year-old gave a different version, saying that inmates often had to go through Mr Camilleri to obtain something they were entitled to. He said he was speaking out "because he is sick of the situation".

Four prison guards were charged on August 16 with beating Mr Toornstra after he tried to escape on his return from an hour's prison leave a week earlier. The Dutchman is serving 15 years for drug trafficking.

More 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 insisted that Mr Camilleri merely relayed the message in Mr Toornstra's case and stressed that inmates were not forced to go through Mr Camilleri and that he sees a number of prisoners directly every day. But even the former Prison Board chairman Mario Felice, who resigned over a professional dispute with Mr Gatt three months ago, corroborates Mr Toornstra's version.

"...this sounds very close to the present prison management style," Dr Felice said about Mr Toornstra's claim that Mr Camilleri was the go-between in his prison leave request.

Dr Felice said, however, that it was unlikely that Mr Toornstra obtained the leave just on the strength of another inmate's involvement.

"He would have had to fill in some form of request with a clerk. At least, judging by my knowledge of how prison-leave works, there is some paperwork, generated through a written request."

Nonetheless, in an interview which appears today in The Sunday Times Dr Felice said: "I've got my own views as to whether it is healthy for a prison administration to rely on intermediaries but this approach has been sustained over the past number of years."

Asked specifically about Mr Camilleri's supposed privileged position in prison, Dr Felice added: "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... 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."

When confronted with Dr Felice's comments, Mr Gatt simply said that the former prison director had got it wrong, insisting that he (the director) treats everybody equitably and that Mr Camilleri does not enjoy any special privileges.

Contacted in prison, 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 said he had simply relayed a message in Mr Toornstra's case.

With regard to his role, however, 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."

mmicallef@timesofmalta.com