He is no longer fed, cannot walk, has difficulty speaking and often does not recognize those around him. He is 83 years old and terminally ill. But he remains in prison, far from his land. Graziano Mesina, the former red primrose of Orgosolo, is still detained in a penitentiary facility in Northern Italy despite his very serious health conditions .
And on this, the voice of Irene Testa, guarantor of prisoners for Sardinia, rises, relaunching a question destined to spark discussion: "Can a man in these conditions really still commit crimes?"
After more than 40 years in prison, and with an illness that leaves no hope, Messina's lawyers - Beatrice Goddi and Maria Luisa Vernier - have presented for the seventh time to the Milan surveillance court a request for a deferral of the sentence for humanitarian reasons . A new request, which is added to those already rejected, in which they ask at least for a transfer to a Sardinian penitentiary facility.
But once again, the suspicion that Messina may be maintaining contacts with the island's organized crime is holding back the acceptance of the request. A reason that, according to Testa, is no longer sufficient.
"Is it normal - he asks - that in Sardinian institutions, where more than half of the inmates are in high security, there is no way to keep Messina safe?"
The appeal of the guarantor therefore joins that of the lawyers of the elderly prisoner, now struggling with a compromised clinical condition and incompatible, according to the defense, with ordinary detention.