Salvini: circumscribe the crime of torture. Cucchi: we will not allow it

'It is necessary to intervene on the crime of torture'. Vice-Premier and League leader Matteo Salvini said this during an initiative of his party in Montecitorio on the impact of the security decree on the prison sector. "Prison police have little presence in the newspapers and when they are there they are attacked as torturers and torturers. The crime of torture needs to be reviewed, circumscribed, clarified. Prison police officers are not potential criminals or torturers and they do their work under very complicated conditions'. 'This is something that needs to be done and who but the League can do it,' he added.

Salvini's words did not go unnoticed, provoking a harsh reaction from the opposition. The first to make himself heard is Ilaria Cucchi, who attacks: 'As minister of transport, Salvini should deal with that. We will not allow the crime of torture to be laid to rest just for pure political propaganda. My thoughts go out to all the victims of torture, starting with those of the slaughter in the Santa Maria Capua Vetere institute, and my solidarity also goes to the magistrates who, with a straight back, do not allow themselves to be intimidated,' said Avs senator Ilaria Cucchi, sister of Stefano Cucchi, who died following a beating by the police after his arrest.

A proposal also rejected to the sender by Senator Alfredo Bazoli, leader of the PD group in the Justice Commission of Palazzo Madama: 'For Salvini, in order to allow the forces of law and order to do their job seriously, it is necessary to reduce the application of the crime of torture. In short, we must leave our hands free, in peace with the liberal principles on which a democratic state is founded, with international conventions, and with common sense. Phrases dictated by an authoritarian attitude that has already manifested itself with the security decree and that raise the tension, certainly not helping our public security forces".

Tranquil also the judgement of the M5s. "Today, too, Salvini spoke nonsense about justice. The crime of torture does not need to be circumscribed, its introduction was a step of legal civilisation. We all agree that the prison police play a valuable, difficult role and often in truly impossible conditions, partly due to the government of Meloni and Salvini, which observes motionless the huge staff shortages from which the corps suffers. Recognition of the agents' work is done by funding extraordinary hirings, making prisons civil places for prisoners and those who work in them, not by demanding impunity for those who make mistakes. Legality is a concept that must be declined at all times, not at convenience: those who, wearing a State uniform, commit cruel violence, causing suffering to those affected, must not be given preferential treatment, precisely because respect for the law and human rights applies to everyone". Thus the M5s senator, Anna Bilotti, member of the Justice Committee of Palazzo Madama.

While the secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi, 'this is the Italy that Salvini dreams of, where the law of the strongest prevails as in the Wild West. As far as we are concerned, the crime of torture cannot be touched. On the contrary, we think there should be a further element of guarantee against police violence and we relaunch our proposal of identification codes on uniforms".