Mandatory jail sentences making Malta’s drug problem worse - criminologist
Criminologist Sandra Scicluna blames politicians for failing to address drug legislation over fears they might look ‘soft on crime’
7 February 2021, 6:00pm
by Karl Azzopardi
Criminologist Sandra Scicluna believes mandatory prison sentences are exacerbating the country’s drug problem rather than solve it.
In a recent court ruling, the 25-year-old son of European Commissioner Helena Dalli was handed a three-month jail term after he was apprehended outside a Paola party with two others in the process of acquiring six ecstasy pills, eight years ago. He was then aged 18.
Scicluna, who was interviewed by Raphael Vassallo in this Sunday’s edition of MaltaToday, said the law does not provide the judiciary with any real discretion, when it comes to passing sentences.