Yesterday evening an inmate set himself on fire in the infirmary of the Bancali prison. The prison police officers were also injured with him. This was announced by the autonomous prison police union, Sappe, specifying that in the past the man had already been the protagonist of critical events during detention. The union also announced a protest demonstration on Friday 28 June under the offices of the regional penitentiary office of Cagliari.
The dem parliamentarian Silvio Lai spoke about what happened in the Sassari prison: “A few days after the last suicide in the Bancali prison, yesterday an inmate of the Sassari prison set himself on fire and is now hospitalized at the Santissima Annunziata. On the situation of the Sassari prison I presented numerous questions to which Minister Nordio responded by promising interventions that never took place.”
“This fact – continues Lai – confirms once again how unsustainable the situation in the Bancali prison has become. The lack of staff, especially the insufficient number of intermediate figures, is causing very serious dangerous conditions for the agents and for the prisoners themselves. During my last visit to the Penitentiary just a few weeks ago, I reported the absence of almost 90% of staff compared to the units necessary for correct management. And without forgetting that a permanent director has been missing for some time, while the head of the guard has finally been appointed with a procedure that must also be applied to the directions in which assignments are too often refused.”
“Meanwhile, Minister Nordio, instead of dealing with his ministry, we find him on a festival tour trying to defend his “reform”. In short, it is no longer acceptable for those with direct responsibility not to intervene when faced with the evidence of a very serious situation which is leading to continuous episodes like yesterday’s. At this point, in addition to the questions already presented, we will bring the issue of Sardinian prisons to the Montecitorio chamber and there we will no longer accept promises that are not followed by concrete actions.” – concluded Lai.
