Prison guards union Uilpa said Friday
that an 18-year-old Egyptian man died in a fire at Milan's San
Vittore jail overnight.
The case is set to heighten alarm about conditions and
overcrowding in Italian jails, following a spate of suicides
among inmates and a series of recent episodes of unrest.
Uilpa Secretary General Gennarino De Fazio said it seems that
the victim and his cell mate started the fire, saying this had
become a frequently used form of protest in prisons
"We do not believe it was suicide, but it is yet another death
up top of the 70 inmates and seven prison officers who have
taken their own lives since the beginning of the year in what
increasingly sounds like a war bulletin," he said.
The government has launched an emergency plan for Italy's
prisons.
Prison-rights association Antigone on Friday called for a
parliamentary commission of inquiry to be set up, saying the
teenager's death showed the "deep crisis" the penitentiary
system was in, with an overcrowding rate of 131%
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