In Flavio's cell in Malta, there's only a bed, a "non-functioning" sink, and a toilet, all under surveillance. For 35 days, since his first day in solitary confinement, he hasn't seen any other walls, furniture, or windows. For a month, he's been able to watch TV and eat at a table, but always away from everyone, without meeting the gaze of other young people in prison like him.

Antonio Santoiemma and Daniela Lorusso, the parents of the 15-year-old Italian student arrested for causing a bomb threat at school, are detailing the detention, which has now lasted 72 days. The case is being followed by the Foreign Ministry.

"If there was a crime, one must take responsibility. We contest the illegality of the detention because it violates all treaties to which Malta is a party," is the complaint of the couple, who have been living in the island nation south of Italy for five years. It all began over two months ago, when Flavio "was held in solitary confinement for four days in Division 6 of the Corradino prison for adults, where he self-harmed due to the severe stress," his father explains.

A penitentiary where even minors "are subjected to medical examinations." Then he was transferred to juvenile detention, where "he spent 35 days locked up" for "22 hours a day, forced to eat standing up and for three days to feed himself with his hands because no one bothered to provide him with utensils." To date, "nothing has changed," his parents point out.

In fact, despite the fact that Flavio hasn't been locked in his cell for nearly a month now, and can watch TV in another room and spend two hours in a games room, he still remains in solitary confinement, without contact with other inmates, with "only one shower at 12, when the others rest," and under the watchful eye of cameras, "in a 41bis cell," his mother, expressing her concern, continues.

"To what extent," he asks, "can he tolerate this type of detention? It's illegal and violates humanitarian principles."

(Unioneonline)