Palermo, the Criminal Chamber intervenes on Ardita’s words

April 20, 2024, 5.34pm

2 min read

PALERMO – “We read with amazement the statements made by the Deputy Prosecutor at the Court of Catania, Dr. Sebastiano Ardita, who, having heard before the Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies in the context of the proposed law regarding the granting of early release and temporary provisions concerning its application, defined the so-called special early release as an indult, not even disguised” to intervene they are the lawyers Vincenzo Zummo (Penal Chamber of Palermo), Anthony DeLisi and Ermanno Zancla (Human Rights and Prisons Observatory of the Criminal Chamber of Palermo).

“These words, which betray a carcinocentric conception of jurisdiction, where prison is seen as the main, if not the only, response to crime, closer to authoritarian settings that are light years away from what should be the function of punishment in a secular and democratic state” they add.

And they add “We, as the Criminal Chamber of Palermo, in the wake of a constitutionally oriented vision of the re-education of punishmentwe believe instead that it must be considered as a last resort and always carried out with respect for human rights”.

It’s still: “From this point of view, we strongly denounce the very serious situation of degradation in which our prisons find themselveswhere overcrowding transforms the punishment into inhuman and degrading treatment, and for this reason we are announcing an initiative for next Monday 22 April: lawyers will deliver and have the minutes recorded during all criminal hearings in the district of the Court of Appeal of Palermo, with a request to send to the Ministries of Justice and Health, a declaration denouncing the dramatic situation of suicides in prison containing a series of concrete proposals to address the problem that can no longer be deferred”.

“The Criminal Chamber of Palermo and its Human Rights and Prison Commission – they conclude – also invite Parliament and the political forces so that the legislative mechanisms can be set in motion to achieve the adoption of an amnesty and a pardon to make detention more humane by reducing overcrowding in prisons. prisons”.