A 29-year-old Italian prisoner was found dead in Marassi prison. Gennarino De Fazio, general secretary of the Uilpa Penitentiary Police, reported the incident, explaining: “He was found lifeless in his cell after inhaling gas from the camping stove. We don’t know if it was a suicide or, more likely being a drug addict, an attempt to obtain hallucinogenic effects ended badly”. Alarming numbers in Italian penitentiaries according to the trade unionist: “Since the beginning of the year there have been 101 deaths, of which 45 by suicide, a tragic bulletin to which must also be added four members of the penitentiary police”.
De Fazio then continues: “As long as these conditions remain, we will never tire of comparing prisons to theaters of war. Not only the number of victims, the unspeakable violence perpetrated there, the suffering inflicted there, but also the promiscuity general and the ordinary use of tools and objects such as camping stoves, do nothing but bring to mind places of guerrilla warfare that are not too in step with the times. While we talk about ecological and digital transition, in penitentiaries we seem to find ourselves in the era prehistoric”.
“This further death – reiterates the secretary of Uilpa – heavily raises the issue of drug-addicted prisoners, who should follow alternative and effective recovery paths, also finding the necessary care and who, in the current situation of prisons, are instead very close to a chimera. If we want to at least try to limit the massacre by breaking every record in the count of deaths in prison, the Meloni Government must take note of the unprecedented emergency and pass, truly and immediately, a decree-law to allow the deflation of the prison density. Compared to the capacity – concludes De Fazio – there are over 14 thousand more prisoners in Italy and at least 18 thousand units are missing from the penitentiary police force. Extraordinary hires are needed”.
Continue reading GenovaToday news, follow our Facebook page and subscribe to our WhatsApp channel
