‘How Can You Protect Murderers?’: Luke Chetcuti Asks As Solitary Confinement Debate Intensifies
Updated at 12.01 on 8/11/21
The son of murdered Maltese businessman Hugo Chetcuti has lashed out at a campaign calling for better rights for prisoners, including those in solitary confinement.
Luke Chetcuti uploaded a lengthy status, explaining what it’s like to have your father taken away from you in a cruel manner: “Maybe if it was your dad laying cold in his grave you would think differently?” Luke Chetcuti wrote in an Instagram story, addressing campaigners.
Under Maltese law, solitary confinement can only be mandated by court order, and not by prison officials. It can last for a maximum of 10 days, with an interval of two months between each period. However, journalist and TV presenter Peppi Azzopardi has been calling for an end to the practice for some time now.
Azzopardi, who has in recent years taken on the role of being a major point of contact for prisoners facing abuse, uploaded a Facebook post yesterday claiming that four men with experience of solitary confinement were being silenced and prevented from speaking to the police.
Azzopardi spoke to four prisoners who had experience of solitary confinement, but are not currently in solitary confinement.
One of the four men currently facing solitary confinement is Bojan Cmelik, the man who murdered Hugo Chetcuti.
“How can you even try and protect these murderers?”
As far as Chetcuti is concerned, his father’s killer being placed in solitary confinement was a just punishment given the killing’s impact on the family, saying his family was “scarred for life”.
“Do you even have any consideration for the after-effects on my children’s lives, knowing that their grandfather was murdered? Do you know how hard it is for all my family to continue life? Life is never going to be the same for us now. Every birthday, every Christmas, every family celebration is marred by his absence,” Chetcuti wrote.
“When I visit my dad at his grave he can’t speak to me, or anybody else, because he is in indefinite solitary confinement due to death through murder at the hands of the prisoners you so nobly defend.”
Bojan Cmelik was found guilty of murdering Hugo Chetcuti, his former boss, on 6th July, 2018, as the businessman was opening a new restaurant in Paceville. Cmelik is currently one of four prisoners facing solitary confinement.
While Azzopardi has called for an end to solitary confinement in the past, his latest post appears to have been intended more to note that solitary confinement was being used as an excuse to prevent prisoners from giving their statements to the police over what Azzopardi describes as a dictatorial leadership within prison.
“Right now, as I write this, there are four prisoners who want to give statements to the police over the prison director’s leadership,” Azzopardi said.
“They want to testify about what they’ve seen and what they’ve been through. The director has refused to allow them to give a statement to the police. I’ve sent these four names to the Police Commissioner to take immediate action so that these prisoners can testify.”
He questioned whether Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri thought it was acceptable for the director to remain in his post while he was under investigation.
“Dear Minister, do you think it is right for the prison’s director to remain in place while he is being investigated about criminal allegations? Can’t you see this is a tragic farce? Is it possible that you are not noticing that prisoners who have experienced abuse are too scared to speak?
“Explain to us, dear minister, how the director, who is criminally being investigated by the police, hasn’t suspended himself so that the investigation can go on freely.”
What do you make of Luke Chetcuti’s perspective?
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