The head of Corradino Correctional Facility Colonel Alexander Dalli is the person responsible for the dire situation in prison, the Nationalist Party said on Wednesday.
PN spokesperson Peter Agius said that the correctional facility is an institution in which inmates who serve a sentence should come out of there reformed, but instead it has become a facility where people die; where prisoners are going through deplorable circumstances together with their families.
Agius stated that 13 inmates have died in the correctional facility, including an inmate who died on 17th August after attempting to commit suicide some days prior.
Agius reiterated that Corradino should be a place where a prisoner would be guided to reform oneself, but instead, it has been turned into a tragic circle of violence.
PN general election candidate Graziella Galea spoke about the party’s nine proposals to safeguard the livelihood of the prisoners and of life in general.
The first of these is a program for more rehabilitation centres for inmates who are dependent on drugs. Other proposals included inmate programs, and halfway houses where prisoners who have reached the end of their prison sentence can have the possibility to spend the last part of their sentence outside of jail.
PN general candidate Darren Carabott, stated that the correctional facilities should be the most secure place for prisoners – but in fact, prisoners are dying.
Carabott insisted that the head of the correctional facility Colonel Alex Dalli must resign immediately.
When asked by The Malta Independent about what the next step is if the government does not accept the request of the opposition to change the leadership of the prison, Galea said that she hopes that the government will at least adopt the proposals that the PN has proposed, few of which have been implemented.