46 Rebibbia inmates indicted for COVID riot

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 9 - Some 46 inmates of Rome's Rebibbia Prison were indicted Friday for a March 2020 riot against COVID restrictions at the jail.
    Another four inmates opted for a fast-track trial.
    They face charges of criminal damages, abduction, robbery and devastation.
    The riot took place on March 9, 2020.
    It was part of a wave of unrest in 27 Italian jails that killed seven people with many inmates asking for an amnesty due to the virus emergency.
    Serious riots took place at San Vittore in Milan and Rebibbia in Rome where, as well as burning mattresses, some inmates attacked the infirmaries.
    The protesters were angry at the restriction of face time with visiting relatives due to the coronavirus.
    Jails had been ordered to stop all visits and limit day releases.
    Rights campaigners warned of mass revolts over the new measures, and families gathered outside prisons to protest the restrictions, and to get news of their loved ones.
    The Italian jail system is designed to hold some 51,000 inmates, but has upwards of 61,000, leading to chronic overcrowding.
    Most of the ihe inmates who died did so after overdosing on drugs raided from prison pharmacies.
    One was also killed by smoke inhalation.
    Riots took place in Naples, Foggia, Prato, Mantua, Frosinone, Pavia, Modena and other places. (ANSA).