An inmate died yesterday inside the psychiatric unit of the Secondigliano prison in Naples. The inmate, 51 years old, married with children, died following a heart attack, but the cause of death will be determined with the autopsy in the coming days.
The guarantor of prisoners in Campania, Samuele Ciambriello, reported the incident. "Savior – Ciambriello recalls – he is the fourth prisoner to die in Campania for a death whose causes are still to be ascertained. On people who are otherwise free, and mentally ill, I ask myself: is prison necessary, a life sentence?”.
Ciambriello explains that “Salvatore had requested an alternative measure a few months ago that was not granted to him. What is needed for psychiatrically ill prisoners?
In our Constitution, the right to health is enshrined in Article 32, the only article in which the fundamental adjective for this right appears. I can testify that in Italian and Campania prisons for various reasons, for various motivations, this right is sometimes not respected, supported, promoted and this not only by the health authorities.
For prisoners who live with an additional problem, mental health, drug addiction, loneliness, the greatest affliction of detention is the useless time, the empty time, feeling alone and abandoned by the outside world. This is why I launch an appeal: we cannot continue to die from prison to prison”, concludes Ciambriello.
Article published on November 2, 2023 - 17:43
