Reduced prison sentences and cash
will be awarded to inmates as compensation for serving terms in
overcrowded penitentiaries so Italy can comply with European
Court of Justice rulings, Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi
announced Friday.
Under a decree from the cabinet of Premier Matteo Renzi,
inmates still in prison will have their sentences discounted by
one day for every 10 spent in cells of less than three square
metres while former inmates will receive eight euros for every
day spent in what the Court of Human Rights has called "not
humane and degrading treatment," official sources said.
Boschi said the cabinet decision was taken to meet the
rules and avoid infringement proceedings by the European Union
against Italy that would have meant hefty fines levied on Rome
by Brussels.
The Northern League criticised the decision to grant
compensation as an "infamous measure" and the prison warders'
trade union Sappe was also critical.
The Cisl trade union federation said it approved the
compensation but said it is not enough to solve the problems in
prisons on the peninsula.
Inmates made as many as 6,000 formal complaints against
Italy to the Court of Justice.
Justice Minister Andrea Orlando denied suggestions the
sentence reductions amount to a "mini amnesty" saying Italy
would have had to pay at least double in infringement fines.
A wider package of prison reform is to be considered by
Renzi's cabinet June 30.
President Giorgio Napolitano has been a longtime critic of
the prison system, denouncing the "critical, intolerable
situation of overcrowding" in Italy's penal institutions.
Italy's 205 prisons held a total of 59,683 detainees on
April 30, exceeding the legal capacity of 49,091 according to
justice ministry figures.
Prison overcrowding is a factor in the high rate of
suicides and incidents of self-harm among prisoners.
In February, Italy's Senate gave final approval to a
controversial law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding by
releasing some inmates early.
That move came after the European Court of Human Rights
ordered Italy to make dramatic improvements to its prison system
to stop overcrowding and undo violations against prison rights
by May 20.
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