Only 20 imprisoned for corruption in 20 years

In the past 20 years only 20 people have been imprisoned for bribery or corruption charges. Two of the corruption charges which led to imprisonment were linked to fixing of football games while two other cases involved the corruption of witnesses.

Since 1992 only 24 have been imprisoned for money laundering and just nine have been imprisoned for usury.

This emerges from statistics showing the number of persons classified according to the offence committed who were imprisoned every year since 1992.

The statistics show a significant increase in the number of people who had fines converted into prison sentences.

While in 1992 only 13 people had their fines commuted to a prison sentence, the number of these people shot up to 158 in 2004 and 155 in 2008. 

In 2011, 78 people had their fines converted to a prison sentence.

In the same period only 20 people were imprisoned for charges related to domestic violence, four of these were imprisoned in 2011.

A notable increase was registered in the number of husbands imprisoned for not giving surety money to their wives. The increase is from just two in 1994 to a record 33 in 2010.

Over the 21-year period, 221 were imprisoned for defiling minors.  Figures fluctuate from just one person imprisoned in 2003 to 30 imprisoned in 2004. In 2011 only eight persons were jailed for this reason.

Only two persons were jailed for animal cruelty, one in 2002 and one last year.

Most of the incarcerated people in the past 20 years faced charges related either to theft or drugs.

The number of people imprisoned after being accused of aggravated theft peaked in 2009 when 184 people were incarcerated for this reason, up from 81 in 2002.

Statistics show a drastic decline in the number of people imprisoned for sheer drug possession.  While in 1995 84 people were imprisoned for drug possession, three were imprisoned for this reason in 2011.

On the other hand the number of people imprisoned for both possession and trafficking peaked at 140 in 1998 only to decline to 51 in 2000. 

Numbers started picking up again after 2008 when 108 persons were imprisoned for possession and trafficking. The numbers declines slightly to 102 in 2010 and to 74 in 2011.

The number of persons imprisoned for importing drugs to Malta has also seen a notable increase. While only eight people were imprisoned for importing drugs between 1992 and 1995, 19 people were imprisoned for the same reason in 2001 alone. In the past three years 32 persons have been imprisoned for importing drugs.

The statistics show that the total number of females who were handed prison sentences has shot up drastically from just 22 in 1993 to 61 in 2011.

The number of people incarcerated in each particular year reached a peak of 814 in 2010, nearly double the number incarcerated in 1993.

In 2011, 649 people were incarcerated.