There are few officers in Bancali prison , in Sassari. The staff is "insufficient" to ensure all necessary checks on inmates under the 41 bis regime.
For this reason, the Court of Cassation denied Cosa Nostra boss Salvatore “Salvino” Madonia, 80, the purchase and use of a compact disc player to listen to music in his cell.
The purchase had already been denied at the outset by the management of the Sassari prison, a decision against which the Cosa Nostra boss – sentenced to life imprisonment for numerous murders – had appealed, winning the decision before the Surveillance Court .
The Supreme Court judges upheld the appeal filed by the Sassari prison, the Department of Penitentiary Administration, and the Ministry of Justice, thus overturning the decision of the Surveillance Judges who had ordered the prison to authorize Madonia to use the CD player.
And the Court of Cassation's decision is based precisely on the staffing shortages that unions have been denouncing for years. Section 41 bis, which houses Madonia, states, "is one of the most crowded in the country, resulting in particularly onerous checks." The Surveillance Court, in granting Madonia the purchase and use of the CD player, " completely failed to assess its concrete impact on the prison's organization , in terms of human and material resources to be allocated to verifying the safety of the players and music media, including the quantitative aspects."
In the Bancali prison , the 41bis wing houses 92 inmates, 572 in total out of a maximum capacity of 458. There are 297 officers on duty compared to the planned 342. According to the prisoner reorganization plan launched by the Government, the number of inmates under the 41bis regime in Sassari is expected to increase by 20% .
(Unioneonline/L)
