Inmate Deaths Have Increased Since 2010, But So Has Prison’s Population, Data Shows
The number of inmates who have died in prison has registered a slight increase over the past decade but so too has the prison population, according to figures tabled in Parliament.
The data was provided by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri who was asked by Nationalist MP Karol Aquilina to state the number of prisoners that had died in prison since 2000.
The MP also asked the minister to state how many of these deaths were the result of suicide.
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Camilleri, along with the prison’s administration – primarily suspended director Alex Dalli – have been on the receiving end of harsh criticism over what is claimed to be the inhumane treatment of prisoners and Dalli’s reign of terror.
Dalli suspended himself earlier this year after yet another prisoner died after committing suicide – the third this year and the 14th since Dalli took charge of the facility in 2018.
While a trend of increasing deaths can be observed from 2010 this is lessened when one takes into account the increase in the prison population, especially during the last two years.
The number of deaths from suicide as a proportion of total deaths has also remained relatively unchanged over the 10-year period. For example, all prison deaths were the result of suicide in 2021 just like it was in 2011.
As for the period between 2000 and 2009, Camilleri told Parliament he had been informed that the information provided was incomplete for the years preceding 2013, meaning that it could not be completely accurate.
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