A 21-year-old inmate from the province of Salerno took his own life last night around 22:00 PM in the shower of his cell at the Paola prison. He was scheduled to serve his sentence until May 2027. This tragic event marks the 49th inmate suicide since the beginning of the year, adding to the five prison officers who took their own lives during the same period, the last of which occurred yesterday afternoon in Favignana.

Despite the rapid rescue efforts of the Penitentiary Police and medical personnel, it was not possible to save the young man. Gennarino De Fazio, General Secretary of the UILPA Penitentiary Police, expressed deep concern and anger over the current situation in Italian prisons.

"The prisons They are now places of death, rather than resocialization. The exact opposite of what the Constitution requires, with the death penalty effectively imposed, and even more so, without any criteria, targeting inmates and staff at random. In this context, the prison police also risk performing the work of undertakers, with all due respect for the latter, of course, but knowing that they have chosen and should be doing something completely different. De Fazio declared.

The Secretary of UILPA PP also highlighted how prison police officers are often unjustly put under investigation for failing to prevent these tragic events, while those who have the political and moral responsibility for the management of the prison system should be called to account. "They continue to make them possible without batting an eyelid or, at most, raving about decrees between announcements and denials," he added.