Overcrowding of the prison population: in Basilicata, the threshold, from month to month, continues to remain above 100 prisoners more than the regulatory capacity of the 3 Lucanian penitentiary institutions located in Potenza, Melfi and Matera. For each prison, for the purposes of calculating the regulatory capacity, the places are theoretically calculated on the basis of the criterion of 9 square meters per individual inmate plus 5 square meters for the others. As of 31 May, as per ministerial monitoring, in Basilicata, compared to an overall regulatory capacity of 368 places, there were 486 prisoners present (of which 53 foreigners and 3 in semi-freedom): 118 more. The misalignment between the overall data and the data of the individual prisons shows overcrowding of the greatest magnitude: 130 more prisoners. Not all 3 Lucanian prisons, however, are in the same conditions: the most critical situation was and remains that in Melfi. In Potenza, compared to a regulatory capacity of 110 places, as of 31 May, there were 98 inmates present, of which 14 were foreigners. In Matera, however, compared to a regulatory capacity of 132 places, 189 prisoners were present, of which 30 were foreigners: 57 more. Finally, in Melfi, compared to a regulatory capacity of 126 places, 199 prisoners were present, of which 9 were foreigners: 73 more. The problem linked to the overcrowding of the prison population directly affects the possibility of guaranteeing adequate living conditions for prisoners and impacts the work of those responsible for the functioning of detention facilities. In Italy, the criticality has reached numbers much higher than the emergency. Italian prisons should host 51 thousand 241 inmates, but those present as of May 31st were 61 thousand 547 (of which 2 thousand 663 women and 19 thousand 259 foreigners): 10 thousand 306 more inmates. In any case, in reference to the legal position of the 486 prisoners present in Lucanian prisons, there are 129 (of which 18 foreigners), approximately a quarter of the total, awaiting the first judgement. There are 64 (including 7 foreigners) with non-final sentences, of which 36 appellants, 24 appellants and 4 mixed. This last category includes inmates accused with multiple charges against them, each of which with its relative legal status, provided that they have no definitive conviction. The prisoners in Basilicata who, however, have been definitively sentenced, are 293 (of which 28 foreigners). With regards to the prison population of foreign origin, at the Basilicata level, in general, out of the 53 in total, the Albanians (13) are the most numerous, followed by the Nigerians (12). Then, as nationalities of origin of foreign prisoners confined in Basilicata, there is Georgia (5), Morocco (5), Romania (4), Tunisia (4), Bulgaria (2), Sudan (2), China (1) , Gambia (1), Greece (1), Pakistan (1), Somalia (1).
By A.Carponi
