Only yesterday we had told of the 47th suicide in prison, today the toll is even more tragic. This was reported by Gennaro DeFazio, General Secretary of Uilpa Penitentiary Police. «He was only 21 years old, born in Italy of second generation, he put an end to his very short life yesterday afternoon, shortly before 3pm, in his cell where he was detained in the Frosinone prison inhaling gas from the camping canister. Unlike in other circumstances in which the aim seemed to be to ‘sniff’ the gas, in this case everything suggests a suicide. It’s the 48th of the year, the third in just over 24 hours, in a tragic and frightening sequence. To the suicides of inmates must also be added those of prison officers, as many as 4 in 2024. An endless and unprecedented massacre. We wonder how those who are undeniably politically and morally responsible for it can sleep.” declares the prison unionist.
«So many deaths and, in general, so many dysfunctional events had never been seen in prisons at least in the last 30 years. If, as we fear, the trend is not reversed, by the end of the year all records will be broken, even exceeding the number of deaths in 2020, when there were riots following the coronavirus pandemic. In penitentiaries, the real pandemic is today. The pandemic of indifference or, to put it in more colorful terms, of indifference”, adds the Secretary of Uilpa PP.
«Moreover, in the same prison section where the probable suicide occurred, a few hours later, around 6.00 pm, some inmates attacked a prison police worker, fracturing his foot. In short, guerrilla scenes. All this while the Government advertises hirings, which are absolutely true and deserve to be given credit, it’s a shame that they are not enough to cover the retired agents. Therefore, the staff is fewer and fewer, day by day, and the prisoners are more and more. There are 18 thousand units missing from the needs of the Penitentiary Police, while the inmates are 14 thousand more than the available places. A crazy situation, unworthy for a totalitarian country, let alone for one that wants to define itself as democratic and civil. We no longer know how to say it, immediately reduce overcrowding, hire agents and ensure healthcare. There are no other recipes, except to prescribe placebos. Not our repeated and documented complaints, but the facts, and the deaths, demonstrate it. The government strikes a blow”, concludes De Fazio.
