Police say ‘health clinic referred MEPA protestor to psychiatric unit’

MEPA protestor Ignatius Busuttil was referred to a psychiatric unit by the Floriana Health Centre, according to Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit.

Questioned by MaltaToday, the Police said Busuttil, 59, claimed to be under psychiatric care while being questioned by the police and he was thus referred to the Floriana Health Centre.

“On being questioned the man claimed to be under psychiatric care and thus he was referred to Floriana Health Centre”, which referred him to the Mater Dei Psychiatric Unit, Zammit said.

The Acting Police Commissioner confirmed that individuals are assessed by independent medical practitioners, and not by the Police, when asked whether the Police had been involved in the decision to send Busuttil to Mount Carmel Hospital.

Claims that the man was arrested and sent to Mount Carmel after a silent protest against the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) outside Auberge de Castille first surfaced in The Malta Independent.

The newspaper reported that Busuttil was arrested, interrogated and sent to Mount Carmel after the protest. In the past, it added, the man suffered from stress and sleep deprivation.

Standing outside the Office of the Prime Minister on three different occasions, Busuttil attached a poster to his car reading that MEPA did not treat everyone the same – presumably in relation to an enforcement notice the planning authority issued against Busuttil in 2009.

According to the MEPA website, Busuttil faces an enforcement notice: the breach is the change of use from a private garage to a car wash without permit.

According to the Police, Busuttil “dangerously parked his vehicle across the roundabout near Castille and refused to obey Police orders when ordered to remove the vehicle”. This incident happened on 4 August and Busuttil received a parking ticket.

The following day, Busuttil once again “parked illegally and dangerously” in front of Castille. 

“The Police spoke to the man and informed him to call at the Valletta Police Station, where he was told he can express his views according to the law. On 8 August, the same man was again parked illegally near Castille. He was also negligently driving his vehicle around Castille roundabout and disobeyed Police orders when instructed to remove his vehicle,” the Acting Police Commissioner said.

Busuttil told The Malta Independent that the doctor at the Floriana Health Centre gave him an appointment to see a psychiatrist at Mater Dei the following morning, but the police, under arrest, took him to Mater Dei where he was seen by another doctor. He was then transported to Mount Carmel via ambulance. The newspaper reported that he was sent to Mount Carmel for three days but stayed only one night.