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Francesco Petrelli: 'Putting alternatives to imprisonment at the centre'

23 December 2024

2' min read

Faced with the growth of the prison population, "we have to dispel the myth that from more prison comes more security: the recidivism rate of those who benefit from alternative measures plummets compared to those who serve their sentence in prison. Yet people continue to invest in prison-centric projects, with the idea of building new prisons'. An 'unreasonable' choice according to Francesco Petrelli, president of the Union of Criminal Chambers.

Why have we come to this overcrowding?

The situation is more serious than the official data tell us, and it is not homogeneous: in some institutes, there are twice as many prisoners as places available. The truth is that the justice response is insufficient. First of all, there is a failure to open up to alternative measures to detention, because there is a lack of resources. Then, there is an excessive application of the pre-trial detention. And there is a further problem.

Which one?

Among the inmates are people in a state of psychiatric distress and drug addicts, who should be treated rather than being in a state of deprivation of liberty as an end in itself. So much so that the number of suicides is dramatically high: this year there were 89, the highest figure ever. Faced with this reality, the government's inertia is impressive.

The Prisons Decree Law passed in July did not help?

We said from the beginning that those measures would have no impact. The intervention on early release was just a make-up: nothing changed, but the inmates were under the illusion that they would be able to use the institution, creating confusion and delays.

What should be done?

Faced with this emergency, it seems absurd that Parliament cannot find the strength to intervenewith an amnesty for less serious crimes or with an act of clemency conditional on subsequent conduct without new crimes. The bill tabled in the Chamber of Deputies, with Roberto Giachetti as first signatory, which proposed to raise the sentence deduction for early release, was also effectively scuttled.

In contrast, the security bill is intended to punish prison riots.

The impression is that we are going backwards in the relationship between state and citizen. Instead of removing the causes of overcrowding, with crime prevention and alternative measures, they resort to repression and zero tolerance. These are regulations that violate the constitutional principles that should guide criminal law. This is not the way to govern the malaise of society.

Valentina MaglioneRedattore
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Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese
Argomenti: giustizia, norme e professionisti
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