Ten Prisoners Go On Hunger Strike In Support Of Suspended Director Alex Dalli
Ten prisoners are staging a hunger strike at Kordin to voice their disapproval at the recent suspension of prison director Alex Dalli.
A relative of one of the prisoners involved revealed the hunger strike on social media, and a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry confirmed with Lovin Malta that ten prisoners are taking part.
As per protocol for hunger strikes, these prisoners are being closely monitored by the medical team.
Meanwhile, inmates and correctional officers are also signing a petition to call for Dalli’s reinstatement.
Dalli suspended himself as prison director last week in the wake of the latest suicide within the four walls of Kordin, an Indian national called Arun Jose who was facing charges of child sex abuse and sexual assault.
He has been replaced, at least temporarily, by Robert Brincau, the former director of Malta Red Cross.
A former search and rescue pilot, Dalli has been praised for instilling a sense of discipline and purpose within Kordin and for seriously clamping down on drugs, which he has described as “the root of all evil”.
However, he has also been accused of subjecting prisoners to cruel and unusual forms of punishment and instilling a culture of fear within Kordin.
Following the deaths of several prisoners within its walls, an internal inquiry was launched into prison practices, while two prison guards were recently charged with the involuntary homicide of inmate Kim Borg Nicolas Virtu.
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