Italy’s justice minister visits prison where 2 inmates died as advocates warn of summertime suicides
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
ROME (AP) — Italy’s justice minister has visited a Turin prison where two women died within hours of each other. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio says his visit Saturday wasn’t an inspection or investigation into the prison, but rather a demonstration of solidarity with the facility following the deaths Friday. According to news reports and the Antigone Association, which advocates for better prison conditions, an Italian woman killed herself in her cell while a Nigerian woman died in the mental health ward after having refusing food and drink since she arrived July 22. The minister called for alternatives to prison detention and the conversion of military barracks to help reduce prisoner populations.
