British inmate discovered hanging in Kordin’s notorious maximum security section after six months in ‘punishment’ block
Inmates speak out about shocking conditions in Division Six: condemned by Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture in 2005
Raphael Vassallo A British national held for over six months in Kordin prison’s notorious Division Six – condemned by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture in 2005, but retained by the prison administration as a maximum security cell block – took his own life yesterday, under circumstances which raise serious questions about the prison system and its current administration.
Berry Charles Lee, 45 from Nottinghamshire, UK, hanged himself in his cell using a belt and a piece of a broomstick wedged into the ventilator aperture – despite international prison safety standards which prohibit from maximum security sections such clothing accessories as belts, necklaces, shoelaces, and any other items which can be used in suicide attempts.
It transpires that Lee’s lifeless body was discovered in his cell by other prisoners, after he failed to respond to the 2:30pm fall-in as expected. His last contact with prison warders took place at 11:30am, when food was taken to his cell. The food was left untouched, but nobody noticed this detail despite a secondary inspection an hour later – at 12:30pm, which is believed to be the same time Lee made his suicide attempt.
Commenting late yesterday, Charles Cassar – director of the prisoners’ rights NGO Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl – said that the case appeared to expose a certain “lack of sensitivity” by the prison administration towards the possibility of such events taking place.
“Such incidents suggest that there might not be enough monitoring by the prison administration, to prevent such things from happening,” he said. “Ideally there should be more contact with prisoners under such circumstances.”
Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl later issued a press statement on the same case. “Although rare, cases like these should provoke concerns about how and in what conditions prisoners are kept in Division Six, especially the more vulnerable ones,” George Busuttil, the NGO’s secretary, said.
Lee was serving a sentence for aggravated theft, having already served a separate two-week sentence for resisting arrest. He had recently been granted bail, but was returned to Division Six on the same day as his release, after it transpired that he had submitted a false address.
He was described as a shy and reserved man, who rarely left his cell or communicated with other inmates.
Meanwhile, different versions have surfaced regarding why he was kept in maximum security in the first place. A spokesman for the Justice Ministry confirmed yesterday that Lee had spent more than six months inside Division Six, but told this newspaper that he himself had refused an offer to be transferred to another section of the prison.
According to the ministry official, Lee had a friend in Division Six, and also preferred to be in a smaller section of the prison.
However, this version is hotly contested by other inmates, who told MaltaToday that Lee had himself requested a transfer on numerous occasions – having complained about the poor living conditions in this section – but had always been refused.
Division Six had earlier been singled out for harsh criticism by the European Council’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Degarding Treatment in 2005. The compound was temporarily closed after that damning report, but has since been reopened with only nominal refurbishments.
Yesterday’s suicide is currently the subject of a magisterial inquiry. Efforts to contact acting prison director Abraham Zammit proved futile.
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