While the entire country celebrated the Ferragosto holiday on Thursday, some politicians went to prisons to draw attention to the criticized living conditions that triggered a spike in suicides.
Each August 15entire Italy seems to be taking a break. Throughout the Mediterranean country, the shutters of shops, bars and restaurants are padlocked and decorated with orange signs of “closed for holidays”. In all neighborhoods, except those most frequented by tourists, there is nothing more than the proverbial tumbleweeds.
It is Ferragosto, the sacred festival that, according to Italians, remembers the Roman era: A celebration that Emperor Augustus granted to his peopleincluding slaves, as a reward for a season of hard work in the fields. In today’s Italy, celebrating Ferragosto by spending the entire day on the beach or lazing in the shade amounts to nothing less than a human right.
However, on August 15, some Italian politicians decide to spend the day in jail, of their own free will. And for the sake of the human rights of the less fortunate.
Following a custom established by the late politician, activist and journalist Marco Pannella, Politicians have given up their day off to draw attention to adverse prison conditionssomething that President Sergio Mattarella said was “unbecoming of a civilized country” just a few weeks ago.
This year, liberal MP Matteo Renzi, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, and colleagues of the late Pannella from his Radical Party have been among those who have spent time with inmates.
It is not a serious policy
Renzi returned to his hometown of Florence on Thursday to attend the overcrowded Sollicciano prison, where, he said, half of About 500 inmates are being held awaiting a final sentence. “Facilities like Sollicciano should be torn down and rebuilt from scratch,” he said in a post on X, “to guarantee humane conditions for those imprisoned.”
The former prime minister himself did not mince words in his criticism of the Government of Giorgia Meloniwhich recently attempted to alleviate some of the problems by promising to build new prisons, increase the number of prison officers and simplify the early release process, among other things.
However, the law approved at the beginning of August has also further criminalized a number of crimes, including the infamous anti-riot measure, which punishes those who organize parties with up to six years in prison -or what the law calls “invasion of land or buildings with danger to public health or public safety”-.
The far-right leader of the Lega, Matteo Salvini, was one of the staunchest defenders of the anti-rave law when it was first approved at the end of 2022.
The squattingor “arbitrary occupation of a property intended for the domicile of others”, as it is legally called, now also can put someone in jail.
As for additional staff, the new measure will only mean hiring 1,000 new guards initially, while the prison employees union asked for 24,000according to the national press. On the other hand, prison sentences have been reduced or eliminated for some crimes, especially financial ones.
Calling it “babble,” Renzi said that “a policy that does not address hardship, mental health, addictions and of course prisons (in itself) is not a serious policy.”
“I leave Sollicciano with the images of kids younger than my children imprinted on my heart,” added Renzi. “I know it is not pleasant that his Ferragosto should be disturbed by my reflections. But I think it was fair and appropriate to be in Sollicciano today.”
The legal platform “Justicia insieme”, or Justice Together, also criticized the new law, stating that “in the face of the climate of tension that is growing in penitentiary institutions… it was legitimate to expect braver solutions and, above all, of immediate application.”
A string of suicides shocks the nation
Meanwhile, desperation in Italian prisons continues to increase, resulting in a suicide chain throughout the country.
ADVERTISINGAccording to the Italian Penitentiary Ombudsman, in July, about 50 prisoners had taken their lives since the beginning of the yearthat is, 16 more than in the same period in 2023, a figure disputed by prison unions who claim that, instead, it amounts to 51.
Of those who committed suicide, 19 (more than a third) were awaiting trialand 23 (almost half) were foreigners, an unusually high number considering that the number of foreigners in Italy is close to 5% of the total population.
The mental health crisis has become so evident that even Mattarella said that Italian prisons were becoming “a place where all hope has been lost.”
And now, the new law could mean that “there will be more poor people in prison and fewer managerswho don’t go to jail anyway,” Francesco Conte, journalist and founder of Mama Termini, an association that helps the homeless in Rome, told ‘Euronews’.
ADVERTISING“There are two main problems in general: the first is that trials in Italy last a long time. The second is that many people who are in jail do not have a residence, so they cannot be under house arrestso basically many foreigners go to jail for small crimes. Meanwhile, Italians with residence, including those who committed more serious crimes, are usually under house arrest.”
“Then there is the desperation of not being helped by lawyers. That is another big problem, many ‘free’ lawyers (assigned to defendants) do not do their job well. Then, of course, there are the abuses from fellow prisoners and the police,” Conte added.
Overcrowding in Italian prisons
Some 61,000 inmates currently reside in Italian prisonswhile The official capacity is around 51,000with an overcrowding rate of 130%, according to the Ansa news agency.
While the Meloni Government has insisted on export their asylum seekers to Albaniawhere construction of two holding centers is finishing – another decision widely criticized by human rights groups – those who arrived from abroad, including refugees, have a particularly hard time once they find themselves on the other side of the law.
ADVERTISINGMost of them could hardly wait to become legal and equal residents. However, they only found one appearance of equality once behind barsa heavy irony that provokes disappointment and pessimism with little hope that there is any silver lining.
“I know two people imprisoned for my work with Mama Termini. One was arrested four years in prison for disorderly conductand he is a very peaceful and kind guy. When people like him receive these harsh sentences for something minorit is easy to reach desperation,” recalls Conte.
“Prison isn’t for everyone, although some people don’t dislike it that much, especially because they’re in a bad place anyway. Another friend once said, ‘the only place I worked legally was in prison.'” .
