54 convicts to be released Friday, Opposition criticises ‘broad’ amnesty

Fifty-four prisoners will benefit from a 100-day amnesty proposed by the government to mark the change in the country's administration, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia announced this evening.

The prisoners, 11 of whom are foreigners, will be released on Friday while 12 others will benefit from the partial amnesty at the end of this month. By the end of July, a further 21 prisoners will be granted the amnesty.

In August, 14 Maltese and six foreigners will walk free. These will be followed by five in September, nine in October, 10 in November and 12 in December.

Explaining the terms of the amnesty, Mallia said convicts sentenced on charges of child abuse or paedophilia will not benefit of the amnesty. 

He denied that the amnesty was in any linked to easing prison overcrowding. "To mark the election of a new government, the government is proposing that the President grants a 100-day amnesty to prisoners residing at the Corradino Correctional Faciliy," Mallia told the House this evening.

He said the amnesty will apply for sentenced prisoners, prisoners whose sentence is under appeal, and those awaiting judgement once a prison term is imposed. It only applies once for prisoners serving more than one sentence.

It does not apply to those convicted of crimes against children including human trafficking, child prostitution, paedophilia, abandonment of children under 7 and cruelty against children under 12.

The proposal however did not go down well with the Opposition, which insisted that the terms were too broad.

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, Mallia's shadow minister, commented that government seemed to be going back in time since the last amnesty given following a general election was in 1996, when the then Labour government had granted amnesty to 80 prisoners.

But with an answer ready at hand, Mallia later replied that Azzopardi himself had backed a similar amnesty when the Archbishop had been appointed.

"At the time I was a backbencher and not part of the government's executive... moreover the appointment of a new Archbishop did not happen every day," Azzopardi said, to which government whip Carmelo Abela was quick to quip: "It's not often that Labour is elected with 36,000 votes either".

Azzopardi however insisted that even though over the years several requests for amnesties had been put forward - such as Malta's accession to the EU and papal visits - these were rejected.

 "Doesn't such an amnesty demotivate our law enforcement officers? What kind of message is the society getting?" Azzopardi said, insisting that "honest citizens faced transfers while criminals were rewarded".

Azzopardi noted that while it was true that the amnesty excluded a number of crimes against minors, yet it did not exclude those who sold drugs to children or who sold drugs near schools. He also questioned whether the amnesty was being given to address the problem of overcrowding at the prisons.

Mallia vehemently denied the suggestion.

"Can we know how many individuals convicted of attempted murder will be granted the amnesty? How many have been convicted of domestic violence, animal cruelty or have breached previous sentences? How many pimps will walk free?" Azzopardi said.

Sparking furious comments from the other side of the House, Azzopardi questioned whether Labour had already been planning the amnesty before the 9 March elections, securing the votes of the prisoners' relatives.

"Even suggesting that this could have been the case is ridiculous. We are celebrating the election of a new government," Mallia insisted, adding that the PN government had given five amnesties between September 1987 and 1992 to mark a change in government.

The Home Affairs Minister assured the House that the government had consulted both the Police and the Office of the Attorney General before putting forward its recommendation.