The lawyer Giuseppe Cultrera, the lawyer of Stefano Argentino, the 27 -year -old accused of killing the university partner Sara Campanella, who committed suicide in prison on Wednesday, asks for the intervention of the Guarantor of the prisoners. “It is not the first time that inside the district house of Messina Gazzi we witness a death surrounded by the veil of the mystery, by the erroneous analysis on the need for surveillance of the prisoners themselves,” says the defender. «Stefano Argentino, held under medium security regime, having already expressed since entry into the prison instincts suicide, had undergone the general regime and high supervision. Except that, suddenly and without being informed of it, only after the communication of death did I learn about the decision – it would even seem to have been assumed more than two weeks ago – of downgrading surveillance », he says.
“Stefano, at least as far as he had told me, was followed by four psychologists and a psychiatrist: one wonders how it is possible that 5 professionals did not realize the evident and full -blown mental fragility of the prisoner, of a prisoner who had announced the suicide and had been transported to the infirmary for not having drunk a single sip of water for a period more than 17 days?” , wonders. “To deprive a citizen of personal freedom means delivering him to the custody of the state: the subject becomes subjected to indisputable custody of the state itself which will be and is unique and undisputed also responsible for his life from that moment,” he comments. “Who – he says – authorized the vigilance downgrading has made a huge and not excusable evaluation error, both analytical and clinical and will have to respond. What happened cannot qualify as a cause of force majeure or exceptional and unpredictable event; It is a case of announced suicide ». “Another decisive factor to evaluate is to have equipped, for about two months, the Argentine cell with a TV without limitation of channels: it is a question of having provided a way to analyze the crime on daily charged with the often distorted reading key to the media, without the necessary psychological support,” he concludes.
Pd in Nordio: “In Messina, fragile, abandoned fragile”
“Another suicide in prison, however widely announced, certifies the failure of the penitentiary system: the death of Stefano Argentino, beyond the severity of the crime committed, in fact put in a serious doubt the ability of the penitentiary system to guarantee the safety of the prisoners. It is a serious fact on which full clarity must be made ». This was stated by the deputy of the Democratic Party, Maria Stefania Marino, depositing a question to Minister Nordio on the case of the 22 -year -old who took his own life on August 6 in the District House of Gazzi, where he was held awaiting trial for a femicide. “Despite the clear signs of psychic discomfort manifested since the arrest – we read in the inspection of the exponent dem – Argentine had been considered suitable for ordinary detention. A rigorous investigation is needed to understand if there have been omissions or underestimations in the management of a high -risk case. The protection of mental health in prison cannot be secondary. The serious deficiency of staff reported by the trade unions, which would compromise the surveillance of the most vulnerable prisoners should not be underestimated. “