Four of 12 convicted killers have solitary confinement terms

Four prison inmates, out of 12 currently serving life imprisonment for murder, have been ordered to serve solitary confinement, according to the Home Affairs Ministry. In the most recent case, the Criminal Court handed down a 10-day term of solitary confinement to Bojan Cmelik, who was jailed for life for the murder of entertainment mogul Hugo Chetcuti in Paceville in July 2018. A jury returned an eight-one guilty verdict finding Serbian national Cmelik, 39, guilty of the wilful homicide of the 52-year-old businessman, who died six days after the attack. The life sentence means Cmelik will never leave prison. The victim’s son, Luke Chetcuti, said the judgment sent out a clear message: that ruthless, cold-blooded murder will be punished harshly. “My father was taken away from all my family and friends. He can never return, but we find comfort in the fact the justice system sent a clear message,” Chetcuti told Times of Malta. The law allows a judge to order terms of solitary confinement in cases of serious crimes such as murder. Yet, over the past years, social well-being experts have called on the authorities to abolish solitary confinement which, they claim, increases the...