On Saturday night there was an episode of great unrest and confusion at the Mammagialla prison, located at Viterbo.
During this night, several dramatic events occurred, including the tragic death of a prisoner due to a sudden illness, a suicide attempt by another inmate and a principle of revolt which required the intervention of the prison authorities.
These moments of tension occurred just a few days after a protest conducted by fifty inmates, who occupied an entire section of the prison and refused to return to their cells during the night. During a violent brawl, one of the inmates even bit the finger of another inmate.
The escalation of events required the intervention of a support team and placed considerable pressure on the service personnel present, as the regional secretary states, Daniele Nicastrini, of the union Uspp.
Around 19:00 p.m., during the closing time of the cells, some inmates took violent actions, threatening the staff and injuring themselves with improvised box cutters. These acts made it necessary to call in additional staff to restore order, as reported by union sources.
The disturbance has caused concern among the prison authorities, who have immediately recalled the off-duty prison police officers to try to restore calm inside the prison. Faced with the worsening situation, the prison director has taken a drastic decision, allowing theuse of force to quell the protest, as some inmates had set fire to mattresses in their cells, further aggravating the situation.
During the night, an inmate unfortunately died due to a sudden illness. Previously, the trade unions of Lazio had reported to the prison administration the seriousness of the situation in the Viterbo prison, with a overcrowding of more than 230 inmates compared to the regulatory capacity and a staff shortage of over 100 units, which made it difficult to guarantee safe work organization and compliance with prison regulations.
It should be noted that what happened in Viterbo is not the only episode of violence in a prison in the last few hours, since Ariano Irpino, in the province of Avellino, a prison police officer was brutally attacked by two Italian inmates, who were subsequently stopped by their colleagues.
Article published on 10 September 2023 - 19:51
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