Home Affairs Minister denies 'punishment chair' used in prison

The Home Affairs minister Byron Camilleri has denied claims that a prisoner was punished by being bound to a chair naked at the Corradino Correctional Facility. 

Camilleri was replying to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami following reports made by newspaper Illum last Sunday. 

Illum said that until a few months ago, before Camilleri was made minister, one of the punishments given to prisoners was that of being bound to a chair, naked. 

Sources who spoke to the newspaper also said that some prisoners had pillow cases put over their heads in order to be further humiliated.

The PN MP pointed out that 48 hours after the article was published, the ministry had failed to deny the claims. 

While pointing out that there was no punishment chair in prison, the minister did say that one prisoner was once tied to a chair upon a doctor’s recommendation.

The inmate was deemed as being dangerous to staff and fellow prisoners. 

There have been several deaths at the Corradino Correctional Facility over the past couple of years with the latest being that of a 25-year-old Pakistani national. The prison authorities said the man died in his sleep.

Camilleri has been criticised for hiding behind magisterial inquiries, whose conclusions are never public. He was recently lambasted by the Nationalist Party for remaining silent in the face of unexplained deaths.

Prison director Alex Dalli has also come under fire over his disciplinary tactics, with the chamber of advocates decrying an incident at CCF. 

The incident took place at Corradino Correctional Facility on 18 November, where lawyer Charles Mercieca was allegedly intimidated by Dalli. Mercieca claims that Dalli began speaking in a rude manner and insisted that no documents would be allowed when meeting his client Yorgen Fenech, who is currently on remand in prison.