Prison officer beaten in Avellino prison

A real punitive expedition with the beating of a prison guard on duty in the penal ward of the Avellino prison is denounced by Emilio Fattorello, national secretary for Campania of the Sappe (Autonomous Union of Penitentiary Police).

The facts date back to yesterday and come – it is underlined in a note – “a few hours after the serious assault against a police officer that took place in the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison”.

“The policeman – Sappe reports – immediately after a violent verbal argument with a prisoner of high criminal standing, he was attacked by other prisoners for no apparent reason. Two, in particular, violently pushed him inside the Guardhouse and hit him with several blows to the face. The whole thing happened in a short time, with all the prisoners completely open in the section, where their colleagues are at their wits' end, abandoned to themselves and with a video surveillance system that is out of order. From the dynamics of the facts, it is easy to think that the aggression was ordered following the argument that had occurred shortly before with the prisoner, who a few days earlier had a cell phone confiscated and reported for this”.

"The colleague who was the victim of the attack - the note continues - was admitted to the civil hospital for treatment and all the solidarity and closeness of Sappe Campania goes to him, wishing him a quick return to duty. This very serious episode has precise ministerial responsibilities: in the Avellino District Prison, as already reported by Sappe, the prisoners now rule the roost, thanks to an indiscriminate opening of the cells, including the High Security section. Suffice it to say that the prisoners responsible for the punitive expedition have made a regular triumphant return to the detention section to which they belong, instead of ending up in isolation, also to protect the preliminary investigation phase that will be ordered by the competent judicial authority".

Per Farmer "this is the daily scenario in which the Penitentiary Police force operates, but it does not seem to make news unlike other things. Consider that despite there being specific provisions of the Dap that order the transfers outside the region of prisoners who are responsible for serious behavior, in Campania we are instead witnessing a real tourist tour of problematic prisoners until they like the institute, with all due respect to the prisoners' office of the Prap. Anything but security!".

The judgement of Donato Capece, Secretary General of the Autonomous Union of Penitentiary Police Sappe: "This cannot go on any longer: it is a continuous and daily drip. If the current leaders are not able to guarantee the physical safety of prison officers, they must all resign! The prisons are in the hands of criminals and the Penitentiary Administration has entrusted prison policies to the Prisoners' Guarantors, thus undermining the safety of the structures. It is a disgrace! Being a prison officer in prison is increasingly dangerous and we feel abandoned by everyone: by the Institutions, by politics and above all by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Penitentiary Administration".