A Man In Malta’s Prison Is Spending 50 Days A Year In Solitary Confinement And Will Do So For The Rest Of His Life
It is one of the harshest fates imaginable to be locked up in a cell with no human contact and, while usually used as a stick by prison authorities against misbehaving prisoners, it is also well within the power of the Maltese judiciary to dish out solitary confinement itself.
Judges tend to reserve this power for the most extreme of cases and indeed even most murderers avoid it as part of their sentence. However, some are not quite so lucky.
Take Nizar El Gadi. In 2015, the Libyan national was found guilty of strangling his ex-wife Margaret Mifsud to death in her car, a brutal murder which stunned the nation and which only took a jury four hours to deliberate on before finding him guilty.
Judge Antonio Mizzi jailed him for life and ordered that he be locked up in solitary confinement for ten days, five times a year, a total of 50 days a year for the rest of his life.
Because of the well-documented detrimental effects of solitary confinement, this is the maximum sentence allowed by Maltese law.
However, Andrew Azzopardi, dean of the University’s Faculty of Social Wellbeing is campaigning to put an end to the practice entirely.
“It is very disturbing that judges can impose solitary confinement as part of a prison sentence,” Azzopardi told Lovin Malta. “There’s clear evidence that even being locked in solitary confinement, even for ten days, can severely damage a person’s mental health.”
He added there are financial reasons to end solitary confinement too as dealing with mental health problems caused by it come at a cost to the national health system.
Asked what other harsh threats can be used to ensure discipline among prisoners, Azzopardi suggested revoking certain privileges, such as visits by their loved ones and access to sports and leisure activities.
Following consultation with various professional and academics, Azzopardi sent a letter to MPs, calling for an end to solitary confinement. However, none have publicly backed his call so far, although he said a couple of them have expressed their support privately.
Lovin Malta recently asked all MPs for their position but has so far only received one response, from Partit Demokratiku MP Marlene Farrugia who said that “prisoners need rehabilitation, not further annihilation of their chances and capability to return to a normal human existence within a community/society.”
Azzopardi said he wasn’t surprised at this lack of a response, not only by politicians but also by the Church and professional associations.
“People have no pity for prisoners and aren’t interested in improving their rights,” he said. “In fact, I get a lot of abuse when I pronounce myself on these issues.”
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