PN condemns Labour Party media after attempt to expose confidential prison source

The PN criticises PL media after attempt to expose an inmate who spoke to NET TV confidentially 

CCF director Alex Dalli (right) at Corradino prison (File photo)
CCF director Alex Dalli (right) at Corradino prison (File photo)

The Nationalist Party has condemned the Labour Party’s media for trying to expose an inmate who spoke with NET TV anonymously on the situation in prison.

The PN accused the PL of resorting to “a lie” and “fake news” in a bid to defend Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and prisons director Alex Dalli.

The case revolves around a news feature broadcast on the PN’s television station, which included an interview with a former inmate. The ex-inmate’s identity was not revealed.

In the feature, the person spoke of the situation inside the Corradino Correctional Facility.

However, in a counter-feature, the PL’s media arm identified the anonymous source as Jordan Azzopardi, the drug kingpin facing serious drug trafficking charges, who was released on bail recently.

In a statement on Friday, the PN denied the information, adding that the PL was perpetuating a lie to defend the prison administration.

“NET News categorically denies the story published by One News. Everyone knows that the situation at the CCF is such that people have become simply numbers and their lives are worthless,” the PN said.

It added that the PL had stooped so low that instead of exposing the mistakes and misdemeanours of the prison administration it was publishing “invented stories”. 

The minister set up an inquiry board earlier this month after an inmate attempted suicide and died 10 days later in hospital. The death was the second such death in a couple of months.

The CCF administration under Dalli, a retired military colonel, has come under the spotlight for its draconian disciplinary measures, which activists blame for the high suicide rate behind bars.

The PN has called for the removal of Dalli and asked the minister to should political responsibility for the situation in the prison.