Maltese Prisoner Recounts Horrific Moment He Walked In On Cellmate Committing Suicide
A recently released prisoner has opened up about the painful moment he found his cellmate at the end of his tether and committing suicide in their shared room.
“We were locked in our cell for 23 hours straight,” Anthony Borg said in a new interview. “We didn’t have a fan. In our cell, the heat was getting so bad that my friend began feeling sick and he began losing his mind.”
“I begged them to open the cell for a bit of fresh air but they didn’t care. The very next day, I found him hanging in our cell.”
Borg was recounting the horrific story to popular host Peppi Azzopardi, who has long been outspoken about prisoners’ rights and determined to raise the alarm over a prison environment he and others call dictatorial and abusive.
Borg explained how his cellmate had tried to ask for help before committing the act of hanging himself.
“Before he did it, he gently asked them to be placed in a cell in a division where he could work. When they told him no, he began hitting his head against the wall out of desperation, right in front of them.”
Speaking to Lovin Malta, Azzopardi said that prison authorities were ignoring prisoners’ cries for help, leading to an increase in suicide attempts and demoralising inmates.
“Imagine, in this heat, not only not being at home but living in a cell with up to six potential people with you, in a whole other building than you are not used to,” he said. “No windows, no fresh air – even the fans are rare there… but the offices have air conditioning, of course – and if the prisoners are lucky, they can feel it when walking past or going for a meeting.”
Borg himself said: “If I hadn’t been released on bail, I would have done the same as my cellmate.”
Azzopardi said that contrary to prison authorities saying the inmate was not at risk of committing suicide, he had actually entered prison with his wrists slit and had communicated years back that he was ready to end his own life. Azzopardi questioned whether any records of these key incidents were kept by prison authorities, and whether authorities were monitoring these vulnerable cases.
Questions about internal prison procedure are being raised after two inmates attempted to commit suicide this summer.
An inquiry into Malta’s prison has been launched after the latest suicide attempt within Corradino Correctional Facility.
The decision comes after an incident that occurred at 5.05pm on 8th August, which involved a 30-year-old Maltese man. He is currently being treated at Mater Dei Hospital.
Last month, a female inmate died after committing suicide in prison.
The inquiry will scrutinise the procedures of CCF, particularly with regards to the assessment of the mental and physical health of both new and longstanding inmates. It will also look at the treatment of prisoners with addiction and prisoners who have had stints at Mount Carmel Hospital.
Lovin Malta interviewed Col. Alex Dalli, the man in charge of CCF, in an exclusive interview in his office watching over prison – check it out below.
https://www.facebook.com/LovinMalta/videos/1352372348298565/
What do you make of this shocking testimony?
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