An inmate at Terni jail has committed
suicide by hanging himself in his cell, penitentiary police
union Sappe said on Monday.
The episode takes to 18 the number of suicides among prisoners
in Italian jails since the start of this year.
"We are dismayed and saddened: a prisoner who takes his own life
in prison is a defeat for the State and for all of us who work
on the front line," said Sappe Secretary General Donato Capece.
The Terni suicide victim was serving a sentence for attempted
robbery and had recently been readmitted to jail for alleged
domestic violence after a period of house arrest.
Last week Premier Giorgia Meloni said more prison places are
needed to ease the
chronic overcrowding in Italian jails that has contributed to
the recent spate of suicides and that decriminalisation of minor
crimes as advocated by the opposition centre-left Democratic
Party (PD) is not the answer.
Prison unions have complained of chronic understaffing as well
as overcrowding and poor conditions as factors contributing to
inmate malaise.
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