H.E. the President of the Republic of Malta,
Prof. Guido de Marco, officially visited Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl at
its centre - called "Dar it-Tama" (House of Hope) -
in Cospicua on July 21, 2000. Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl always had the
admiration
and
support
of
the Presidents
of
the Republic.
Before Prof. De Marco, H.E. Dr Hugo Mifsud Bonnici also gave
his full appreciation for the work done by Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl.
Both Dr Mifsud Bonnici and Prof. De Marco are lawyers by profession,
and for many years they worked at the bar in the Criminal Court
of Justice.
President De Marco (2nd from right) at
Dar it-Tama
The following are extracts from the speech
given by the President of the Republic, Prof. De Marco, on
the occasion
of his official visit to Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl.
We are at this House of Hope — an ancient
and marvelous building — in the city of Cospicua. It
is a house that reminds one of the past; a reminiscence of
the
times of the Normans. We see a splendid internal yard, which
was a way of being in the open while still being inside.
Hope is like the light at the end of the tunnel.
It is like being in a tunnel, and in this tunnel there is only
darkness, but all of a sudden one sees a light afar. It is
afar, indeed, but can surely be seen clearly.
[...]
A person is sent to the prisons as a punishment,
and not to be punished. The person is punished by being sent
to the prisons.
[...]
The element of reform at the prisons is an
essential element for the witness of a civil society. If at
the prisons the message of reform is diminished, if the prisons
are simply a place of custody, if the prisons are merely a
way of locking up a person throughout a whole night until dawn,
and letting him out only if he says "Yes, Sir", and
accompanying him to somewhere else, and then he is locked up
again, without
any possibility of being reformed, but only strengthening his
rebelliousness against society that, good or bad - he will
think it is bad - sent him there, one is not taking advantage
of that punishment, which is intended to be a deterrent even
for those you have offended the law. Once a person is kept
at the prisons, one has the responsibility of reforming him.
[...]
I do not like to make limits to divine providence.
Reforms are won. There shall never be a moment when one shall
be like a victor of a war, when the enemy surrenders, and all
is over. Reforms are won everyday, everyday. Your victory,
Father Mark, and the victory of your colleagues, is a victory
without a final result, a victory without triumphal endings,
a victory that does not allow any show-offs.
The victory lies in the fact that, from day
to day, you bestowed on prisoners a sense of hope. It lies
in transmitting a sense of reform, both to the victim, who
may develop within him the art of forgiveness, and to civil
society, which may be called civilized only if it cares for
the least unfortunate amongst us.
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