A new security decree prompts Italian prisons to collapse

The Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, seems ready to send more people to prison, as part of her strict campaign to impose law and order, but the country’s prisons are not in a state that allows more guests to receive.

On the ninth of last June, the Cagliari prison guards in Sardinia discovered that a 56 -year -old prisoner hanged himself in his cell, which is the 33th suicide state in an Italian prison this year.

The Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, urged Meloni’s government this week to respond to the “exciting” number of suicides behind bars, describing it as a “real social emergency.”

Severe pressure

In light of overcrowding and a lack of psychological care, the prison system in Italy suffers from severe pressure, but instead of providing relief, or even a general amnesty as its ancestors did, Meloni continues to pressure.

In early June, the Italian right -wing government issued a comprehensive security decree that prolongs the prison periods, adds 14 new crimes, and restricts the alternatives to imprisonment, the measure that would send more people to prisons suffering from an actual crisis.

The most controversial thing is that the law also targets protest methods such as cutting roads and occupying public places, which stresses the state’s grip on the opposition. Melonie described the new law as a step towards public safety that would protect the most vulnerable groups in society.

She said: “We are working firmly against illegally occupying places, hurrying evacuations, and protecting families, the elderly and honorable real estate owners.”

Political suppression campaign

But critics see a campaign of political repression with severe consequences.

“It is a dangerous illusion that more punishment and more prison periods lead to more security,” said Vitorio Manis, professor of criminal law.

For his part, Senator for the Melonian party, “Italy Brothers”, Sergio Rasterily, refused to fears that the new decree will send more people to prison.

He said: «It is not true that the inclusion of new types of crimes increases the number of prison inmates. On the contrary, it sets clear limits until those who intend to violate the law understand that they will be held accountable.

The point of collapse

As of April 2025, Italy’s prisons were holding more than 62,000 prisoners in facilities designed for only 51 thousand prisoners, according to a report issued by the non -governmental “Antigone” organization that monitors the conditions of prisons.

With an overcrowding rate of 119% in 2023 – it is one of the highest rates in the European Union – a chronic deficiency in employees, inappropriate infrastructure, and incompatible services, the system of penal institutions is in a state of collapse.

The pressure also exacerbates and turns into disorders. On the fourth of June, up to 200 prisoners in the “Marce” prison, Genoa, made riots in response to an alleged physical attack on another prisoner.

The guests stormed parts of the prison, climbed the fences and surfaces, and damaged many cells. Two officers were also injured, and the disturbances were suppressed until after the riot police intervened on the same day when the Senate agreed to the final version of the Meloni security decree.

A new criminal crime

The decree, which has now enters the law, is entering the riots in prisons as a new criminal crime. Critics argue that this procedure may eliminate the ability to file justified complaints about ill -treatment or neglect in the form of organized protests in prisons.

“There are many examples in which prisoners’ protests gradually enjoyed the attention of the local authorities, and led to positive changes,” said Alessio Skardura.

He added: «The prison is a society that is not independent, but it needs external help. The silence of the protests threatens to make prisons poorer and less able to respond to increased needs. ”

Insulation

According to the same report, suicides are increasing, as they exceeded 33 cases during the first half of 2025.

In 2024, about 91 suicide cases were recorded among the prisoners, a record number, exceeding the peak that was recorded in 2022.

“These cases often occur in the isolation cells in places where human interaction, interaction and communication decreases, and for this reason this trend is towards increasing the procedures for imprisonment in danger.”

He added that the data clearly shows that wherever there is a greater openness, the incidence of such actions decreases. About «Politico»

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Systematic violations

In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling condemning Italy for its systematic violations regarding inhuman and degrading treatment, and the case relates to seven prisoners detained in cells of less than three square meters per person, a threshold that the court considers inhuman.

This ruling was forced Italy to improve conditions and reduce overcrowding, by expanding the scope of imprisonment alternatives, and in this context, the Nigeronian Nigerian report, Alessio Sindorra, said: “We were all surprised by the reactions that followed the European Court’s rule, it seemed as if everyone suddenly became aware of what to do.”

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Electoral marketing

Sergio Esterely confirms that the government’s response to the problem was not emergency or emotional. Archive

Last year, the Georgia Melonian government issued a prisons in Italy, pledged to alleviate the overcrowding of prisons by employing more guards, and building new facilities, including appointing the so -called exceptional commissioner to build prisons, to supervise new projects and innovations.

But critics say that these promises are not in line with the current situation of penal institutions.

“In the face of such a crisis, talking about building new prisons means providing solutions that do not help today’s inmates, it drives the problem to the future, and this is very frustrated,” said Alessio Sindura.

He added, “All previous efforts in Italy have failed to rely on the temporary (emptying of prisons) methods that only delay repeated problems.”

He explained: “Our goal is to implement structural measures by allocating financial resources to train the prison police, improving infrastructure, and analyzing the number of prison inmates,” noting that the real motive for overcrowding is the perpetrators of repeated crimes.

“If people stopped returning twice, three or four times, the crisis will fade, the prison must be a place to re -merge into society, not just punishment,” he said. What we miss is the political will. ”

For his part, a professor of criminal law at the University of Bologna, Vitorio Manis, described the Italian government’s approach to the state of emergency as a “type of electoral marketing”, adding that “the problems will not be solved by building prisons, just as the Coffeted – 19) has not been eliminated, and the Senate member defended the” Italian brothers “party, Sergio Rasterie, who also held the position of the stated decision With prisons decree, on this decree, indicating that the government’s approach to prisons overcrowded was structural and not an emotional or emotional response.

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Suspended

For a while the repairs were established, the number of prison inmates decreased, and Italy introduced open cells, which allowed prisoners to move more freely.

This reform process is now in danger. The Georgia Melonian government has tightened sanctions and excluded tools such as reducing judgments or collective amnesty, measures that the late Prime Minister and leader of the “Forza Italy” party, Silvio Berlusconi, also used.

“The decisions of amnesty and forgiveness are not in line with the government’s vision of the modern state,” said the Italian Senate Member, Sergio Rasterieli, noting that such measures provide only temporary comfort without addressing deeper regular issues. He added, “It weakens the certainty of punishment, which is undermined the citizens’ sense of legal security. Moreover, the authority of the state is weakened, and it turns it into a system that gives up a settlement during times of distress. ”

The Antigoni NGO report, Alessio Skardura, noted that the Melonian government adopted an approach that differs from its ancestors’ approach to dealing with the state of emergency in prisons. He said: “The Melonian government has always been a very resistance, even during the institutional visits to prisons,” explaining: “Traditionally, there was no interest in the conditions of the employees only, but also the conditions of prisoners. Now, visiting officials often avoid talking to employees or even entering the places of detention. ”

. In early June, the Italian right -wing government issued a comprehensive security decree that prolongs the prison periods.

. Italy prisons hold more than 62,000 prisoners in facilities designed for only 51 thousand prisoners.