The greatest danger in your life as a journalist is that you might sprain your ankle while walking down a step or get a shock while turning on the computer, Prison Director Alexander Dalli said in the programme L-Erbgha Fost il-Gimgha on TVM - a statement which Dalli has now apologised for.

On 16 October, 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia was blown up by a car bomb while leaving her home, an event which shook the country to its core.

In a statement published by the Correctional Services Agency, Dalli said that when he was explaining the hard work that Correctional Services Agency workers face, he “may have made an analogy which could be interpreted as a lack of respect to the work and risks that journalists face.”

“This was not done with any intent, and I apologise for it”, Dalli said.

He said that his presence to answer questions from journalists and the fact that in recent months the Correctional Services Agency had introduced protocols for journalists is the biggest testimony to the respect he has for the work of those who keep one of the key pillars of democracy alive.

 

Dalli said that he had sent a copy of this declaration to the Institute of Maltese Journalists as well.

Dalli, a controversial figure who has been at the centre of public scrutiny, currently runs the Corradino Correctional Facility.

In a statement on Facebook, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech slammed Dalli as being arrogant for making this statement.

"The Prime Minister needs to disassociate himself from the prison director, or else be complicit in this irresponsible declaration.

"I express my solidarity with journalists who face challenges everyday in their work, as well as the prison warders."