(Adds PN, Government statements)

A prisoner was found dead in his cell at the Corradino Correctional Facility this afternoon, the Government said.

The prisoner, Julian Genovese, of Sliema, was sentenced to 14 months in jail on Friday after he escaped custody while at Mater Dei hospital some days ago.

Magistrate Edwina Grima is leading an inquiry.

Initial indications are excluding the involvement of third parties or a drug abuse, the Government said.

In a statement the Nationalist Party said this death was preoccupying and raised a number of questions which needed to be answered.

The Opposition asked how the prisoner died and what surveillance measures had been taken by the authorities before his death.

In a reply later, the Government appealed to the Opposition for more sensitivity about the case.

The Government said one would imagine that the Opposition spokesman would know that his questions could only be answered once the inquiry was concluded.

It hoped that the Opposition spokesman would show more responsibility for such a sensitive case, on which there was an ongoing inquiry, not to be turned into a political attack when the facts had not even been established.

The Ministry for Home Affairs was taking the case seriously and would take the necessary action once facts were established, it said.