Avellino prison, the Guarantor reports: "Mold and insects in the cells, housing 696 inmates for 535 places."

Mold, dampness, and insects in the infirmary and the section housing 28 protected inmates. This is the situation reported by Samuele Ciambriello, regional ombudsman for prisoners, after a visit to the Avellino prison, where overcrowding remains another major problem.

The Irpinia prison houses 696 inmates, with a capacity of 535. Among them are 43 women belonging to the High Security circuit and 62 foreigners.

Prison conditions in Irpinia and Sannio were the focus of the morning meeting held by Ciambriello and the provincial prosecutors of Avellino and Benevento, Carlo Mele and Patrizia Sannino, with the president of the Surveillance Court, Maria Bottoni, and magistrates Loredana Camerlengo and Marina Russo.

On the table were the critical issues facing penitentiary institutions, from sanitation problems to delays in renovations to the lack of psychiatric care.

Of particular concern is the opening of a psychiatric unit with just four beds in the Avellino prison. "It's absolutely insufficient," Ciambriello stated, also pointing out the closure of similar units: the one in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, which closed five years ago, and the one in Benevento, which closed three years ago.

The Guarantor also highlighted the need to promote access to alternatives to detention, especially for those serving sentences of less than four years. This focus also includes individuals with less than a year remaining in their sentences who lack a stable home, a condition that risks hindering access to alternatives to prison.

The reports thus raise the issue of living conditions in penitentiaries and the need for structural, health, and organizational interventions to meet the needs of the prison population.