Corradino inmate strapped to restraint chair, prison director denies

The director of prisons Alex Dalli is denying reports recieved by MaltaToday that he placed a long-term inmate on a restraint chair in the middle of the Corradino prison’s central hall to quash the prisoner’s protests.

The career criminal Alfred Bugeja, known as ‘il-Porporina’, was said to have been strapped to the infamous restraint chair, multiple sources who spoke to MaltaToday have confirmed. Bugeja is serving a 31-year prison sentence.

Lt Col. Alex Dalli has categorically denied the allegations, insisting they are “not true and are based on unfounded claims.” He said the only purpose of such allegations was to “further sensationalize the issue”.

But questions on whether the decision to restrain Bugeja was handed down by a medical professional went unanswered.

The prison administration has recently come under fire following reports that inmates were being bound to a chair as a form of punishment and humiliation. Home affairs minister Byron Camilleri has since refuted the existence of the ‘punishment chair’ but said that a prisoner was once tied to a chair upon a doctor’s recommendation.

Article 69 of the prison regulations states that handcuffs, restraint-jackets and other body restraints shall not be applied as a punishment.

But witnesses to the event told MaltaToday that the restraint chair has a steel frame with restraints for the inmate’s head, legs and feet.

They said Alfred Bugeja was strapped to the chair following a disagreement with prison officials over the use of uniforms for inmates. He was placed in the middle of the Central Hall, surrounded by other prisoners, and spent approximately 45 minutes bound to the chair.

Bugeja was said to have protested over the mandatory wearing of prison uniforms, which have been designed by the prison’s seamstresses. Summer uniforms are light blue cotton shorts and t-shirts, replaced with blue jeans in winter.

Sources who spoke to MaltaToday said the need to constrain prisoners for such a long time was uncalled for, as the prison administration is more than equipped to handle unruly inmates. “It goes against any medical procedure. Guards are equipped with pepper spray, and nurses have tranquilizer which sedates individuals immediately,” a source with knowledge of prison operations said.

Corradino also has a special response group which is well trained in de-escalation techniques.

While both prison director Alex Dalli and minister Byron Camilleri have said the chair is no longer being used, MaltaToday’s sources say the chair has not left the prison building and is being stored somewhere away from sight.

In the wake of a reply to a parliamentary question which said the restraint chair had been sued for 15 minutes, Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami went back to Byron Camilleri asking for more information on the case.

Limited to six parliamentary questions, Fenech Adami asked which prison official gave the order, how the prisoner was restrained, the date and time of the incident, the room where the incident took place, the age of the prisoner and whether a doctor was present.

All questions went unanswered by the minister, who simply referred the MP to his original reply, which didn’t answer any of the questions asked.

Interviewed on L-Erbgħa fost Il-Ġimgħa, the prison director had also sidestepped questioning on the chair, insisting it was never used for punishment purposes. Following a string of denials, he did however say the prison was permitted by law to use restraints on prisoners.