Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1337056
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 FEBRUARY 2021 INTERVIEW es involving ecstasy: which is a 'weekend drug', that people may take for a couple of years, as a phase that they go through. I don't want to generalize, but it's not usually a lifetime habit, that goes on for years on end… So when a magistrate sees all this, they will be acutely aware that they are going to put that person in prison, in a system which is not really geared up for rehabilitation. On the contrary, there is a real risk that the people con- cerned will come out of prison, in three or six months' time, and find themselves back at square one. This is particularly true of those suffering physical addic- tions: for instance, to heroin. A lot of those people risk going back to their old lifestyle: be- cause of a sentence that, when all is said and done, could real- ly have been avoided. Not, per- haps, with the law as it stands today; but a simple change to the law could reduce this risk considerably… Yet there seems to be consid- erable resistance, from legis- lators, to changing the law. Do you have any idea why? I think it's because, when talking about the crime of drug trafficking, what most people actually envision are the big drug barons, making millions out of selling drugs to vulner- able people. But this view does not take into account young people, with no criminal record, whose crime is to buys drugs, and share them with friends. This counts as trafficking in the eyes of the law; and laws are drawn up by Parliament… which is, in turn, made up of politicians. And I think politi- cians are reluctant to legislate in a way that is seen to be 'soft on crime'. Even if we look at the recent amendments on cannabis, for instance. The impression many people out there have is that cannabis has become 'legal'. Well… it hasn't. There is still punishment attached to it; and OK, in most cases it will be a fine, as opposed to a prison sentence. But a fine is still pun- ishment; and as long as there is punishment, you cannot talk about it as being 'legal'. Apart from the issue of 'traf- ficking' versus 'personal use', Malta's prison system in gener- al does not distinguish between crimes according to severity. There is only one prison; and while it is divided into different sections, people sentenced for trivial crimes may end up shar- ing the same living space as violent, or otherwise 'serious', criminals. Isn't it time we start- ed considering other possibil- ities… such as, for instance, building another prison? There are a number of prob- lems, in this regard. We have, as you said, one prison which caters for everyone: from peo- ple convicted of minor offenc- es, to those convicted for the most serious crimes imagina- ble. We also have a range of people sentenced to one week, to people serving life sentenc- es. This is what our prison has to deal with: with all the add- ed concoction of inmates who may have drug habits, mental health issues, and all sorts of other problems. And from the prison admin- istration's point of view, what matters is not the crime you were convicted for… but rath- er, how you behave while in prison. And it makes sense, too: because people need to be held in prison safely, without posing a danger to others. This, ultimately, is what the prison administration is concerned with. One possible approach might, as you suggest, be to build a separate prison, and segregate inmates according to the se- verity of the crime. There are two problems with that, how- ever. One is the cost: prisons are very costly to build, and also to operate. The other is… who will want a prison in their backyard? In fact, the reason Malta's only prison is in Paola, is that – when it was built in the late 19th century – hardly anyone lived there at all. The population of Paola was around 500, at the time… Isn't that true of everything, though? No one wants a pow- er station, or a landfill, in their backyard either… Yes; but in this case, it would be a huge issue. Naturally, this doesn't mean it 'can't be done' – everything can be done, up to a point. But… is that the only way? Ultimately, it boils down to a system of dividing prison- ers that makes sense…. But does the current prison system 'make sense', from that perspective? There are certainly issues that need to be addressed. One of the main problems, today, is the huge number of inmates who are not convicted at all; but awaiting trial under arrest. At present, there are more peo- ple held in custody under ar- rest at Corradino, than actually serving a sentence. A consider- able number of those, in turn, are foreigners from non-EU countries: with which we have no extradition treaties. As a result, a prison which has a maximum capacity of around 700, is currently holding more than 900 people. Around 500 of those are awaiting trial: which is quite shocking, in and of itself. And prison is the only institu- tion that cannot actually refuse people: they can't say, 'Sorry, we're full up… find another place'. So yes, it's a massive problem. And I think we have to address it by revising our penal poli- cy. Prison should, ideally, be a necessary last resort: reserved only for sentences of a certain duration. The way I see it: if someone is sentenced to anything up to two years - with certain ex- ceptions, naturally - that per- son doesn't really need to en- ter a prison setting at all. And any sentence of less than six months is particularly unneces- sary: I can't even imagine what use there is in sending them to prison in the first place. There just isn't enough time to work with them. And yet, a recent Parliamen- tary Question revealed that around half Corradino's cur- rent population – of the ones actually convicted; in other words, not counting the 500 who are awaiting trial - are serving sentences of two years, or less. So my theory is that these people don't actually need to even be there… This raises the question of what to do with them, though. I im- agine you're not advocating a blanket amnesty for anyone who commits a minor offence… No, but I do question wheth- er prison is the right solution. I, for one, would put them to work, through a community service programme. That way, at least, they would not be a burden on the taxpayer. Because as I said before: pris- on costs money. It costs around E80 a day, per prisoner. And in many cases, it doesn't make sense at all. For example: there are quite a few people, today, who are in prison because they did not pay a fine. And in those cases: not only did the State lose money, as a result of the fine not being paid… but it ended up paying for their up- keep to the bargain. Where's the sense in that? I'm not an economist – far from it - but I do think it's clear, even from an economic point of view, that the current sys- tem is not working. And this can only be addressed through a legislative change.