A day of very high tension in the “Ettore Scalas” prison in Uta, where yesterday two terrible episodes occurred within a few hours of each other : a prison police officer was attacked by an inmate with psychiatric problems and, in another section of the institute, a second inmate set fire to his own cell.
The officer who was hit – reports Uil Pa Polizia Penitenziaria – suffered serious injuries, including wounds to the mouth that required transfer to the hospital and the application of several stitches. At the same time, in another department, flames that broke out in the cell of an inmate created an extremely dangerous situation for the entire section and required the immediate intervention of the staff to put out the fire and save the other inmates.
The double episode has triggered yet another cry of alarm from the category union . Michele Cireddu, General Secretary of the UIL PA Penitentiary Police, denounced a situation that has now become unsustainable:
"The staff has managed two simultaneous emergencies with extraordinary professionalism, but continuing to operate in these conditions is inhumane. The officers often work understaffed and in increasingly dangerous environments, among inmates with psychiatric problems and highly violent individuals." Cireddu pointed the finger at the chronic staff shortages and the overcrowding of the institute: "With 750 inmates, having sections manned by very few officers is unacceptable. Every attack also requires hospital guards, which takes away additional resources from a system that is already collapsing."
According to the union, this is just the latest episode in a long series of assaults and acts of self-harm that occur in the Sardinian penitentiary, often unheard by the central authorities. "The Penitentiary Police personnel fight every day on the front line," Cireddu concluded, "but they can no longer be left alone. Immediate, structural and political interventions are needed."
(Unioneonline/Fr.Me.)