Mayor donates 35 fridges to Udine jail

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 16 - The mayor of a small town in Friuli Venezia Giulia has donated 35 refrigerators for as many cells in the prison of Udine as a debt of gratitude for being comforted by fellow inmates when he spent eight days at the detention facility 44 years ago, local newspaper Messaggero Veneto reported on Friday.
    Mauro Pinosa, mayor of Lusevera, said a fundraiser had been launched for the initiative by the local ombudsman for detained people and associations but that he paid the entire sum, or 5,250 euros, to ensure the inmates would get the fridges right away. Pinosa spent eight days at the prison in Udine after using a new gun at the local shooting range before receiving the documents renewing his gun license.
    "My world fell apart", he said of having to serve time.
    Pinosa told the newspaper that he spent "only eight days" in jail "but they were enough to understand what it means to be deprived of freedom". "I discovered a different world, one I didn't know I would ever get to know.
    "I was terribly upset, but the people I shared my cell with never stopped comforting me".
    After a four-month conviction issued by a court of first instance, the appeals court of Trieste eventually acquitted him, he said.
    Today, he concluded, "after 44 years, I finally did something for the facility and the detainees". (ANSA).