A young prisoner aged just 20 was found dead this morning in his cell in the via Sforzesca prison in Novara. Osapp, one of the prison police unions, reports this, underlining that this is the 44th suicide in Italian prisons since the beginning of the year. The prisoner, of Algerian origin, was found hanging in his cell by Penitentiary officers. The man was immediately helped but it was too late.
«It is the 44th suicide in prison in less than six months – said the general secretary of Osapp, Leo Beneduci -. It is a tragic and significant fact. This is unacceptable, just as the situation that inmates and penitentiary officers are experiencing in Italian prisons is unacceptable. The Government must finally take note of the profound inability of the current administration leaders to manage this type of emergency. And take note that special and extraordinary measures are needed to ensure that prisons return to being what the Constitution says: that is, safeguards of legality and safety. The prison administration cannot be managed by someone who until yesterday was a magistrate. It cannot be managed through the perks given to magistrates at the end of their careers. For prison administration, managers capable of organizing are needed. And so far the magistrates at the end of their careers have shown that they are not capable of managing the situation.”
