Riot at Beccaria juvenile prison in Milan subsides

The riot that broke out yesterday at the Beccaria juvenile detention center in Milan, where extensive damage was caused, was put down at dawn today.

This was reported by the Uilpa Penitentiary Police. The toll is of some minor injuries, including among the agents, and of one prisoner hospitalized and guarded by the State Police, in the absence of prison workers.

All four inmates who tried to escape during the riot, in which all 59 inmates present apparently took part, have been tracked down.

"After a night of ordinary madness, which, unfortunately, is neither a figure of speech nor a cliché, the very serious disturbances that have been ongoing since last night at the 'Cesare Beccaria' Juvenile Detention Center in Milan have recently subsided.

Thanks to the extraordinary work of the women and men of the Penitentiary Police who were present and intervened off duty, there were no irreparable consequences, but there were some minor injuries, both among the inmates and among the officers, one inmate was hospitalized and is temporarily under guard by the State Police due to a lack of Penitentiary operators.

The guard station will be taken over by the Penitentiary Police at 8.00:5.00 a.m., with officers who worked until after XNUMX:XNUMX a.m., after less than three hours of rest. The damage to the structure is extensive. said Gennarino De Fazio, general secretary of the Uilpa Penitentiary Police.

During the riots, in which all 58 inmates reportedly took part, several attempted to escape, and four managed to climb over the perimeter wall. However, after hours of searching, they were all located within the perimeter of the prison and other offices of the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice., the trade unionist reported.

"What happened again to Milan, preceded by similar incidents at the Beccaria prison, as well as at the Ferrante Aporti prison in Turin and many other juvenile prisons across the country, is clear evidence of the organizational and managerial failure of the juvenile penal system, which is on a par with that for adults. A change of pace is urgently needed, and it must be dictated by politicians, even before administrative authorities.

The system must be made safe by strengthening its resources, starting with the Penitentiary Police, which is short over 18 personnel, implementing and streamlining existing structures, and reorganizing the entire system.

Furthermore, it would be appropriate to reconsider the decision to keep juvenile detainees up to the age of 25 in prisons. We hope that the Ministry of Justice and the Government will make their voices heard this morning with concrete arguments and, above all, that tangible and immediate measures will be enacted. We fear, however, that we will once again have to listen to the same old, discordant refrains with bombastic, empty announcements., concluded De Fazio.