The Nationalist Party has said that the government’s proposal to increase the period that a person can be held under arrest for from 48 hours to 132 hours is “exaggerated” and “goes against human rights.”
Robert Abela's government wants the police to be able to detain people under arrest for five and a half days (132 hours), the PN noted in its statement.
“The Nationalist Party considers the government's proposal as one that violates fundamental human rights and therefore an unacceptable one,” the party said.
The PN recalled its proposal for the police to have the right to hold suspects of serious crimes such as murder, corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism for more than 48 hours and up to a maximum of 72 hours under the permission of a magistrate while fully respecting fundamental human rights.
Ministers Jonathan Attard and Byron Camilleri voted against the draft law proposed by the Nationalist Party when it was discussed in Parliament a few months ago, the PN noted.
“The Nationalist Party believes in the strict protection of fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the party said.
The party said that Robert Abela’s government and Minister Jonathan Attard are “demonstrating their incompetence by not even considering what is happening in other countries with similar laws and instead proposing an exaggerated law that will create significant difficulties in our justice system.”
The PN noted that both Ministers Jonathan Attard and Byron Camilleri formed part of a government that led to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and have still not implemented any of the recommendations made by the three judges in the Public Inquiry concluded two years ago.
The PN said that it remains willing to cooperate and discuss with the government to provide more tools to the police as long as this is done with full respect for fundamental human rights.
The statement was signed by the PN’s justice spokesperson Karol Aquilina.