A bill proposing stiffer fines for violence against police officers was published in the Government Gazette of November 8, the Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry was replying to a statement issued in the morning by the Malta Police Association, which noted that violent incidents against policemen were increasing at an alarming rate.
It said that last year it had issued statements in which it urged the minister to introduce stiffer fines for such incidents and it seemed there was agreement on this, so much so that the minister expressed his solidarity and commitment to toughen penalties for such crimes.
The MPA noted that since it issued its first statement, violence on the police had increase but the required amendments were still not in place.
Were the authorities waiting for a member of the force to die while carrying out his duties to toughen penalties, the MPA asked.
It said that members were demotivated because they did not feel protected by the law. One could also note that police officers were not covered by any form of insurance.
The ministry said that the amendments, which the government was committed to enact following Parliamentary approval, called for the normal fine for those found guilty of threatening or injuring officers to increase by two grades, instead of one.
The amendments also propose that if one or two people violently resisted arrest, the fine should go up from between four months and a year to between six months and two years.
If arrest was violently resisted by three or more people, the proposal is for the fine to increase from between seven months and two years to between nine months and three years.
It is being proposed that when weapons are used, the fine is increased from between nine months and three years to between one and four years.
Another proposals is for the introduction of a new article prohibiting probation orders or suspended sentences in such instances.
Meanwhile, the GWU said there should also be stiffer punishments for offences against wardens'