More crazy and reckless violence between the bars of the Novara prison. This was reported by the Autonomous Penitentiary Police Union, through the national secretary of Piedmont, Vicente Santilli, who summarizes what happened last Monday.
“A foreign prisoner, of Moroccan nationality, became the protagonist of absurd and unjustified violence against Penitentiary Police personnel, even going so far as to destroy part of the cell in which he was confined. He began to insult and threaten the service officer – to whom he had turned to be able to confer with one of the service non-commissioned officers – and then threw bleach in his eyes, despite his colleague’s reassurances that he would allow him to do so as soon as the rank-and-file had freed from other duties. Then, once the Petty Officer arrived on site, he armed himself with a razor blade (which he had hidden in his mouth), reiterating the threats and insults.”
They were moments of high tension: “Moved to another cell in another department, in the afternoon the man continued his violent behavior, also followed by another inmate (Tunisian), and began smashing the objects contained in the cell (TV set, bathroom, sink, radiator, furniture… ) going so far as to attack the police personnel who intervened to calm him down and quell his violent fury, so much so that a deputy inspector and an assistant chief coordinator were then bruised”,continues the trade unionist. “This is the umpteenth violence announced against members of the Penitentiary Police, increasingly victims of the criminal madness of criminals who continue to alter order and security in prison also by virtue of a weak and sterile response in disciplinary and criminal terms. Enough! We can’t take it anymore. Urgent measures must be taken immediately to stop all this uncontrolled violence behind bars.”
The general secretary of SAPPE, Donato Capece, returns to denounce the serious penitentiary situation in Novara and Piedmont: “In the Novara prison and in the other regional penitentiaries the tension remains constant and continuous. The number of prisoners continues to increase and so do the critical events which often see the women and men of the Corps succumb. SAPPE would like to praise the colleagues of the Novarache Penitentiary Police who, despite numerous attacks and great work stress, work with great dignity and esprit de corps. But it is not possible to continue like this, with a prison management that undermines the very nature of punishment and prison, entrusting the prison to the inmates and also weakening the role of the Penitentiary Police. This is serious and unacceptable.”
“The situation in the prisons of Piedmont, where over 4,200 people are currently detained, is always tense and alarming”, denounces the national leader of SAPPE. “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! And I would add that the serious thing is that these numbers materialized precisely when dynamic supervision and the ‘open’ penitentiary regime were introduced, i.e. with prisoners free for several hours a day to wander around the detention sections with sporadic and occasional checks by the Police Penitentiary”, highlights Capece, who urges again “urgent measures”, starting with “a harsher sentence for prisoners who attack Penitentiary Police personnel during their stay and serving their sentence in prison” to get to “expulsions of all foreign prisoners in Italy, often protagonists of more serious critical events in prison”. “StThere is a strong and evident presence of the State, which cannot tolerate this widespread impunity, and urgent and effective measures are needed!”, continues the trade unionist, who appeals 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!”. “We need strict rules 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 clear presence of the State, which cannot tolerate this widespread impunity, and urgent and effective measures are needed!”, he concludes.
csSAPPE, s.zo.
