Venice prison suicide takes 2024 toll up to 60 - union

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 15 - A 37-year-old inmate in Venice jail has taken his own life, taking the number of suicides in Italy's prisons so far this year up to 60, the Secretary of the Prison Police Union (SPP) Aldo Di Giacomo said Monday.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni's government recently approved a decree with measures aimed at easing prison overcrowding amid concern about the high number of suicides among inmates and warders.
    The SPP said five prison officers had also taken their own lives in the first half of 2024.
    As well as overcrowding and low prospects of release, poor conditions are often cited as a factor in suicides.
    The situation, coupled with the intense heatwave Italy's is currently enduring, have been blamed for disturbances at some jails.
    Andrea Martella, a Senator for the opposition, centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said he had presented a parliamentary question for Justice Minister Carlo Nordio calling for a swift response.
    "The heat, the overcrowding, the lack of personnel and the well-known structural shortcomings are putting inmates and staff to a huge test," Martella said. (ANSA).