“The Penitentiary Police staff on duty at the Cuneo prison yesterday afternoon had to deal with the violence of a prisoner originally from Guinea restricted to the intensive treatment section where, during daylight hours, the cells are open. Alarmed by noises like metal gates and furniture slamming, the duty officer went to the section to check what was happening and, once inside the department, he was brutally attacked by the inmate who managed to leave the section and, then pushing him dangerously down the stairs, to overcome his resistance and take the path towards the exit on the lower floors. Once he reached the ground floor he was stopped by the staff present who, at first, managed to lead him inside the room used for videoconference interviews between prisoners and their relatives.”. Moments of very high tension, explains the trade unionist: “A few moments later, in fact, the inmate resumed his violent action, managing to free himself and throw himself against the metal detector structure in the atrium, removing it from its location and damaging it irreparably. While waiting for reinforcements and in an attempt to contain the troublemaker, the Penitentiary Police personnel were hit by kicks, punches in the face and fingers in the eyes, then the prisoner armed himself with two poles used to direct the passage of people, starting to ferociously hit the windows of the officers’ garage and the infirmary door, seriously damaging them”. Santilli finally highlights that “as soon as the reinforcement police personnel arrived, the subject attempted to attack the latter too but, unable to overcome the firm opposition of the officers, he could do nothing but surrender and be taken back to his cell, refusing to be visited because, despite the excitement of the events, he had not suffered any injuries. The same cannot be said of the men of the Penitentiary Police who were instead sent to the local hospital to receive the necessary treatment”.
The violence suffered is very serious
“The violence and tension experienced by the police officers on duty in the Cerialdo prison in Cuneo are very serious: it is unacceptable that a Penitentiary Police officer must risk his own safety every day and be subject to aggression and violence solely because he represents the State in a context in which the violent fringe of prisoners has no hesitation in creating disorders, riots, critical events. Enough!”, denounces the general secretary of SAPPE Donato Capece. “In the prisons of the Piedmont-Liguria-Valle d’Aosta district, in the year 2023, very serious violent episodes occurred: there were 836 episodes of violence, threats, insults, insults and resistance to a public official, of which 508 were committed by foreigners , 238 physical attacks on Penitentiary Police personnel (147 foreigners responsible) and 1,075 damages to Administration assets, i.e. destroyed cells and departments, 301 involving Italian prisoners and 774 involving foreigners. It is therefore completely clear that in the prisons of the nation and of Piedmont in particular, the strong and evident presence of the State is needed, which cannot tolerate this widespread impunity, and urgent and effective measures are needed“, continues the SAPPE leader, who renews his appeal to the DAP leaders to create the conditions “to restore order and security, truly implementing that zero tolerance towards those violent prisoners who, even in prison, are convinced that they can continue to commit crimes with absolute impunity. Strict rules are needed to restore order and security in prisons, truly implementing that zero tolerance towards violent inmates who, even in prison, are convinced that they can continue to commit crimes with absolute impunity. Here we need the strong and evident presence of the State, which cannot tolerate this widespread impunity, and urgent and effective measures are needed”.
