You are right. I was invited to this vaguely surreal wedding in prison and the two witnesses were two politicians – Louis Galea and Joe Brincat. Balance rules even in prison :)

In the case Alfred Bugeja (Porporina) I repeatedly questioned his sincerity in claiming that he is willing to reform himself. I showed him footage of himself on Pjazza 3 seventeen years ago saying that he would not commit another crime. Then I followed it up with the fact that since then he has been sentenced for five other crimes. I confronted about the fact that drugs have been found in his cell. I ended the programme by facetiously asking him whether I would see him on another Bondiplus in seventeen years time. And so on.

With regards to the other two prisoners, one was a chronic drug addict who has been repeatedly put away for stealing but never trafficking and the other, a Libyan, claimed that in his case there was a miscarriage of justice and he will be instituting a constitutional case.

[Daphne – Thanks for clearing this up.]

As of yet I do not have an opinion but I promise to give it some thought tonight somewhere in between the 3rd and 4th erotic dream.

No, not at all. I do not have any political views, in fact I never pick up my voting document. It’s just that you’re too biased for anyone to take you seriously, which is a pity.

Anyway, have a great new year.

[Daphne – Do you know the definition of opinion? It’s what I’m paid for – my opinion, and not a technical assessment along the lines of ‘all things being equal/on the one hand/on the other hand/hold on a minute while I remove this fence-post from up my butt’. The Labour Party is a bucket of shit, and that’s the considered, unbiased opinion of somebody with a functional brain who wasn’t raised in a Nationalist family. Is Muscat fit to run the country? Come on, let me have your honest answer. If it’s Yes, then you might as well trot down to your local bank, pull one of the junior clerks from behind some random counter, and hand him the keys to Castile and a mandate for five years. Same difference.]

I’d like statistics. That’s just hearsay. I want to compare numbers of women killed in Malta against say Italy, the UK, France, Sweden, etc.

There is a big difference between wanting to support victims and demanding harsher punishment. While it is true that many victims feel neglected when lenient sentences are being handed out, there are yet many ways to support and help victims.

I’m very much on the same lines as Fr. Montebello here. I think victims need as much support as they can, as well as relatives of victims in cases of death. Yet at the same time I believe staunchly that the welfare of people in prison is a real concern, as sentences are not just about punishment, but also rehabilitation and correction. Emotionally I can be angered by lenient sentences, especially in case of violent crimes, but at the same time I feel the need to be pragmatic about it. A prisoner being sentenced for X years will be a free man once he has served his term. If that man comes out bitter and unchanged, he would pose a danger to all of us. If instead he he leaves prison knowing he has paid his dues, while getting the help he needs to rehabilitate into society, it would be to the benefit of us all.

I’m all in favour of social welfare, I just don’t like paying for it when it is unnecessary, which would be the case of an ex-con unable to get a job.