More blood and violence in a prison in Calabria. Yesterday, in the prison of Paola, another attack took place against the Penitentiary Police by an inmate. He reports on what happened Salvatore Panaro, deputy secretary regional for the Calabria of the Union Autonomous Penitentiary Police: “Yet another attack within the walls of Paola prison. A prisoner of Romanian origin, who went into a rage, began to devastate the entire cell, breaking all the furnishings and throwing the debris into the corridor. After suffering cuts on his body, he also set fire to some of his personal belongings and threatened to set himself on fire. Thanks to the immediate intervention of the Penitentiary Police personnel, who put out the initial fire and dispersed the depleted people, the worst was avoided”. “Given the situation”continues the trade unionist, “it became necessary to move the prisoner to another department. The prisoner, however, with a razor blade in his hand, once again began to rant against the police personnel and threaten them. Once contained, the man was accompanied to the assigned department. But as soon as he entered the cell, he started shaking his head against the wall. Given the scenario, the prison officers intervened to contain the violence but the man lashed out again, attacking them ferociously. During the agitated phase, an Agent fell, hitting his head on the ground and sustaining injuries.”
Francesco Ciccone, ‘fresh’ SAPPE regional secretary for Calabria, denounces how “It cannot fail to be highlighted that in Calabria this was yet another attack against Penitentiary Police personnel on duty. It is serious and unacceptable: how long can we continue like this?”.
The SAPPE General Secretary Donato Capece condemns the serious episode that occurred in Paola prison and expresses solidarity with the Corps units involved: “With these further serious critical events, the number rises dramatically of policemen involved by prisoners without hesitation in serious events. We express the utmost solidarity and closeness to all the colleagues of the Paola prison: and these last episodes must make the leaders of the Institute and the Region reflect”. The SAPPE leader defines “simply alarming and disturbing” some of the critical events that occurred in the prisons of Calabrian district from 1 September to 31 December 2023: “Think about it, there have been 172 complaints for resisting and insulting a public official, 1 case of intimidating act against our Agents ed 1 of intimidation, 8 collective protests with refusal to enter the cell. But the attacks on policemen are even more serious: 34 those they saw assigned to the unfortunate up to seven days of prognosis, 1 those with prognosis from 8 to 20 days and 1 assault with prognosis greater than 20 days”.
“Shocking numbers”, concludes Capece. “We need a complete turnaround in the management of regional prisons, we are at the mercy of these troublemakers. We also appeal to the regional and local political authorities: in prison there are not only prisoners, but there are humble servants of the State who currently feel abandoned by the institutions”, remembering That “for decades, SAPPE has been asking for concrete reforms such as the expulsion of foreign prisoners, a third of those currently present in Italy, to make them serve their sentences in their prisons as well as providing for the reopening of Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals where prisoners with problems can be placed psychiatric patients, increasingly numerous, today present in the ordinary prison circuit. But we also need more technology and more investments: the situation remains alarming, even if the men and women of the Penitentiary Police guarantee order and safety despite particularly stressful and burdensome working conditions”