On the morning of June 21st, at the Benevento Prisonwas celebrated dedication ceremony to the agent’s memory Michele Gaglionenative of Avella (AV) and serving at the Secondigliano prison (NA), killed in 1992 at just 27 years old, victim of the Camorra.
The solemn celebration took place in the presence of Gaglione’s family and major civil, political and military authorities including: the director of the Benevento prison Gianfranco Marcello and the head of the penitentiary administration department Giovanni Russo. The latter himself recalled the importance of this title and the function of the penitentiary police: The prison police give their hearts. Today it expresses a form of policing for the execution of modern punishment but it does so with a spirit of service and sacrifice that goes far beyond professionalism, they do it from the heart. And therefore, to the same extent I considered this recognition important for Michele Gaglione.
It was a particularly significant ceremony, not only held in memory of the Irpinia agent, but also in light of the events that occurred last May in the current Michele Gaglione prison that she left behind, which raise considerable questions about the prison system Italian. Just a month ago, a protest broke out in the Benevento prison following the refusal of the ASL doctor to visit an inmate.
According to the director Gianfranco Marcello, the protest involving a small group of prisoners resulted in the breaking of some windows, the splinters of which had slightly injured two police officers. The dispute would have quickly subsided, but according to director Marcello, it would have had much deeper roots: We live in a difficult situation due to overcrowding in prisons. We have almost double the number of prisoners we should have and we manage the situation with quite a few difficulties, thanks exclusively to the heroic commitment of the staffso he underlined in the press note released after the events.
Indeed the general condition is quite critical. Against a regulatory capacity of 261 places, 422 people are currently detained and it is understandably difficult to guarantee favorable quality standards for both prisoners and those who work, considering the lack of staff among the assistant officers of around 20 units, as reported by the Union of Italian Criminal Chambers in a 2022 report. But even more alarming data is provided by the Antigone association which since 1991 has been interested in the protection of rights and guarantees in the penal and penitentiary system. In a 2023 report, he reports 83 cases of self-harm committed in the year preceding the report, 16 suicide attempts, 9 attacks against staff, and 2 against other prisoners. Also in this report, a crowding rate of 144.4% was noted, compared to the average of the institutions visited in 2023 which is around 119%. An alarming situation is evident within the Michele Gaglione prison, but it is nevertheless shared with many realities of as many Italian penitentiary institutions.
The condition of the Juvenile Penal Institute of Airola (BN) is also relevant, on which SAPPe, the Autonomous Union of the Penitentiary Police, intervened in recent days. The deputy regional coordinator for the juvenile sector for the Campania region, Sabatino De Rosa, has in fact announced a serious episode of violence involving 7 children with notable consequences, denouncing the persistent problem of overcrowding and the dilapidated conditions of the structure, not compatible with effective re-education of prisoners. According to the words of the union, this episode of violence was not the only critical issue encountered in recent days, but other similar episodes and 2 suicide attempts were detected in a very short period of time.
The naming of the Benevento prison in memory of Michele Gaglione is undoubtedly an opportunity to celebrate an exemplary service to the State but today, considering the extremely difficult conditions in which officers and prisoners are forced to live, it appears to be even more significant. In an increasingly dramatic context, such as that of the Italian prison system, it is therefore always good to valorise the exploits of these great men who have made and still make their civil vocation their reason for living despite the silence of the State.
In fact, precisely because of this civic vocation that collectively should belong to everyone, it is always appropriate to constantly solicit and highlight these great problems of society. How do we think of building a better society, without effective re-education, relegating the last among the last in these inhuman spaces? How do we think of building a future, if the Italian prison system does not recognize its prisoners as human, but only as a problem to be hidden?
ANDREA ALBANESE
