Prime Minister Robert Abela said that his suggestion of an amnesty mechanism for those who were on the receiving end of fines for breaking restrictions put in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 is only applicable for “genuine cases”.

Asked on Monday morning about criticism received from across the board over his suggestion of an amnesty for those who had received the aforementioned fines in certain circumstances, Abela lamented that the criticism, which he described as unjust, was because those criticizing had not heard what he said but had relied on “misleading” reporting instead.

Unions and constituted bodies across the board criticized the Prime Minister between Sunday and Monday morning after he suggested the possibility of an amnesty in certain circumstances for those who had been fined for breaking Covid-19 related laws.

Speaking to this newsroom on Monday though, Abela said that the mechanism for such an amnesty already exists, wherein people can send a petition, appear in front of a Petitions Board and argue their case. 

Abela said that petitions over Covid-related fines had already been filed, and the board had in fact granted some of these petitions, hence freeing the person from paying the necessary fine.

However, he noted that there are circumstances which have to be consider such as, for example, if an elderly person who never committed a crime in her life, barely went out of the house unless it was to go to a shop to buy, was caught not following social distancing guidelines and has a practical reality insofar as that she cannot do a petition online because she isn’t internet friendly or she doesn’t know how to write a petition. 

“What I am saying is for us to have a mechanism through which we can access these people who received a €100 fine for something genuine”, he said.

He said that he had to see things with both reason and compassion, noting that the latter especially cannot be forgotten.

“I want to make the distinction that nowhere did I say that there will be a blanket amnesty”, he said.

“If a person clearly broke the rules then they must pay the fine and shoulder the consequences, but if there are genuine cases then let’s see if there are any loopholes in the mechanism which already exists wherein we can help in truly genuine cases”, he added before noting that if he had been reported better then the controversy surrounding this suggestion would not have happened.

Abela also announced on Sunday that, as of Friday 5 June, the remaining establishment which are shut – including bars and gyms – will be allowed to re-open, an announcement which drew criticism from the Malta Association of Public Health Doctors in particular.

The Association said that the decision was premature and was taken “unilaterally” and against the advice given to him by the Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci.

Asked for comment about this criticism though, Abela said that he had never received any advice from the people who had penned this letter, and that he had always followed medical advice when making the necessary decisions during the past three months.

He noted that there were occasions when he did not agree with the advice given by medical associations, noting in particular that the Medical Association of Malta had advised for a total lockdown which, if followed, would have left people dying from “thirst and hunger” instead of Covid-19.

Asked whether, for the sake of transparency, he will be publishing the risk assessment being used for the relaxation of measures, Abela said that these are in Charmaine Gauci’s hands and one should speak to her for it.

However, he reminded that fears of a second wave when measures were relaxed had not materialized, and that today Malta has the lowest rate of infectivity of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Based on these statistics, the decision to open the remaining establishments on Friday is “the correct one”, he said.

Abela is expected to address a press conference later today to formally announce the further relaxation of measures, and the opening of the remaining establishments which have been closed for almost three months in order to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.