“I participate with conviction as Mayor, but also as a criminal lawyer, in this initiative because I believe it is right to bring to the attention of public opinion the problems concerning the criminal trial and in particular those of the accused and the convicted. It is necessary to raise a strong cry of alarm for the situations that occur in our prisons where there is one suicide a week when things are going well”. So does the mayor Franz Carusospeaking at the Oratory Marathon “Stop suicides in prison” promoted and organized by the F. Gullo Criminal Chamber of Cosenza and held in Piazza dei Bruzi.
Franz Caruso then made a point of underlining the fundamental role played by the criminal lawyerwhich does not defend the crime, but works for the affirmation of constitutional values and respect for the rules of a trial, to protect and safeguard, therefore, the rights of the accused.
“The criminal lawyer is the professional who experiences his client’s discomfort first-hand – continues Mayor Franz Caruso – of the accused forced into uncomfortable and uncomfortable prison facilities, which do not reflect the dictates of our Founding Fathers, because the rehabilitation of the sentence is not permitted as provided for in the third paragraph of the art. 27 of the Constitution. In this vein, today we ask that the rights of the convicted person be respected, that is, of the person who with a final sentence of conviction is locked up to serve the sentence”.
“Not only the state of the prisons, but also the ways in which control is exercised over the inmate does not allow us to move in the direction of re-education. News reports inform us of the many, too many, episodes of mistreatment and harassment within prisons which are not permitted by law and which often lead to suicides. This is why it is urgent to reverse the trend and intervene with strength and determination also through these initiatives”.
“Cosenza has always had a guaranteeist vision of the trial, it is against the death penalty and against life imprisonment which, in fact, is the civil death of the convicted person. We who have this culture and who as a city have always carried forward the values of freedom and real guarantees and not of convenience, cannot remain silent and it is right to take to the streets to raise the alarm against what is a difficult situation which needs remedy”.
Franz Caruso has, therefore, placed theemphasis on the excessive use of precautionary measureswhich even involves an anticipation of the sentence for those who believe they are innocent which is not easy to metabolise and in some cases leads to forms of self-harm which can lead to suicide.
“The rules of our procedural code must be respected – he concludes – the rights of every citizen to aspire to a fair trial but also not to anticipate the sentence are respected, because often the precautionary measure is an anticipation of the sentence”. Finally, Franz Caruso left the witness of these battles to young lawyers.
“Winning a case – he said – it is not an economic satisfaction but must be the affirmation of procedural truth. Cases are neither won nor lost because lawyers work to affirm the procedural truth, following the path that the law indicates. The lawyer, therefore, never violates those procedural rules, but interprets what the law is to protect not the crime but the accused called to defend himself. Today we must protect a more important right than that of freedom, which is the right to life which cannot be denied to anyone.”
The president of the legality commission also spoke at the initiative Chiara Pennaa young and passionate criminal lawyer who, taking the floor, illustrated the work carried out to protect the rights of prisoners and aimed at respecting article 27 of the Constitution.
“I gave a personal contribution to the organization of this marathon, which gratifies me greatly for the particularly delicate and heartfelt theme– stated Chiara Penna- Suicide in prison has become a real emergency which does not only concern prisoners awaiting trial but everyone, with particular reference to fragile subjects who have almost finished serving their sentences”.
“The latter are afraid of returning to freedom because, not being re-educated, they will not find space and will be marginalized. So there is no more time for silence, but it’s time to take the field as we are doing.”
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