First prison inmates set free after amnesty

Eritrean Solomon Testei feels he deserved the time he spent behind bars and believes that being allowed to leave jail earlier did not reduce the lesson he learnt. “Mistakes can happen. We are human beings. I would say that 99 per cent of prisoners realise they deserve the punishment and that otherwise they would never learn… but we must get forgiveness sometimes,” he told Times of Malta soon after walking out of the Corradino Correctional Facility. Mr Testei had been jailed for just under three years for theft and fleeing from the police. He was one of the first prisoners who left jail yesterday after benefiting from the 100-day amnesty announced by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia earlier this week to mark the election of the Labour Government. The amnesty has been widely criticised, with Victim Support Malta saying it “impinged on the victims’ right to reparation”. The amnesty will see the release of some 143 inmates this year and, yesterday, the first group of 32 men and women walked out through the prison’s green, metal doors. Among them there was David Muscat, who was one week into his one-month jail term given for failing to pay maintenance. “I used to think prison is...