Castrogno, new protest. «Now the truth about Patrick’s death»

The situation inside the Castrogno prison is becoming more and more dramatic: understaffed (only 140 officers against the 218 expected) with 400 inmates present instead of 200, they put services and security at risk. The latest alarm comes from the Sappe regional secretary, Giuseppe Ninu: «Our penitentiary institutions are ships adrift and, in some cases, the absence of directors or commanders has caused the organization to implode, with the risk of not only internal security . Effective and profound action is required so that the prison planet can orbit in compliance with the constitutional dictate, above all by having an adequate number of prison police officers, operators and professionals in the sector, in modern and efficient structures, capable of reducing overcrowding of prisoners, in particular those who, suffering from various serious pathologies, are not forced to serve their prison sentence as prisoners, but are hospitalized in designated places, certainly not the Rems (residences for the execution of security measures), another great failure.”

And it is precisely in this last passage of Ninu that the story of the 20-year-old boy, Patrick Guarnieri, found hanged in his cell in Castrogno on March 13th, on his birthday, takes place. Yesterday morning, in front of the prison, he was remembered by a garrison of 200-300 people (many of the Roma ethnic group such as Patrick) including organisations, political parties (Radicals and Casa del Popolo), family members (including his mother) and friends, some ultras were also present. Banners hoisted with the words: “Truth and justice for Patrick”. “He wasn’t compatible with prison – says Adele Di Rocco, coordinator of Codice Rosso, who wants to shed light on the facts – The boy was autistic, with a cognitive delay, he shouldn’t have been there.” «He should not have been taken into isolation – adds Marco Costantini, president of Sbarre di sugar – among other things Patrick was not even able to scream». The memory of Diletta, autistic like Patrick, was touching: «The State is strong with the weak and weak with the strong, I feel that people with fragility are hated». This is when the chorus of “resign immediately” starts from the garrison, addressed to the prison director. A few steps away in the net, white roses and post-it notes are neatly arranged with declarations of affection from Patrick’s friends and relatives (“I want to remember you as sweet as you were”): his sister Anastasia fills the sheet with moments of life lived together like « when you brought me candy to school.” Ariberto Grifoni, a radical historian from Teramo, who has spent his life denouncing the state of Italian prisons «together with Marco Pannella», calls for justice reform «which starts from the bottom, from the prisons: the legislators make laws that cannot be deferred, the problem lies with the detained as prisoners. Furthermore, the punishment, as per article 27 of the Constitution, must aim at re-education”. Adele Di Rocco says she «does not believe in suicide: he entered alive and left dead. We have appointed a doctor who will shed light on the event: in a few days we will have the answer. We will also evaluate the videos.” On May 16, Di Rocco, together with the others, will be in Rome to request a meeting with the Minister of Justice.

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