Italy may release up 10,000 people from prison to ease overcrowding
Some 10,105 prisoners are "potentially eligible" for alternative measures to prison, such as house arrest or probation, the ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The option would apply to people whose convictions are final and no longer subject to appeal, less than 2 years of sentences left to serve, and no serious disciplinary offenses in the past 12 months.
People serving time for serious crimes such as terrorism, organized crime, rape, migrant trafficking and kidnapping would be excluded, the ministry added.
According to the World Prison Brief database, Italy has one of Europe's worst prison overcrowding records, with an occupancy level of around 122%.
Any level above 100% indicates that prisons are occupied above their maximum capacity. Only Cyprus, France and Turkey have higher scores in Europe, according to the database.
The plight of prisoners has attracted attention in Italy following a rise in suicides and complaints about soaring summer temperatures in detention facilities that are not air- conditioned.
However, the early release of prisoners is a politically sensitive move, and the Justice Ministry indicated that it would not happen overnight.
It said it had set up a task force to liaise with prisons and parole judges to facilitate decisions on individual cases, which will meet weekly and report on its work by September.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
7 hours ago
- Japan Today
China opposes Czech president's visit to Dalai Lama
FILE PHOTO: Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, is served food on his 90th birthday celebration at the Tsuglagkhang, also known as the Dalai Lama Temple complex, in the northern town of Dharamshala, India, July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo By Farah Master China said it "resolutely opposed" Czech President Petr Pavel's meeting in India with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and urged the Czech side to "abide by its one-China political commitment" and maintain healthy and stable relations. China's embassy in the Czech Republic posted the notice late on Sunday and said China firmly opposes any form of contact between officials of any country and the Dalai "clique". Pavel met with the Dalai Lama on July 27, it said. "China urges the Czech side to abide by its one-China political commitment, take immediate and effective measures to eliminate the bad influence," the statement said. It added that the Czech side should stop sending "any wrong signals to 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces." The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. India is also home to about 70,000 Tibetans and a Tibetan government-in-exile. © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
4 days ago
Japan Panel Calls for Expanding Interrogation Recordings
News from Japan Politics Jul 24, 2025 18:30 (JST) Tokyo, July 24 (Jiji Press)--An expert panel of Japan's Justice Ministry in a report on Thursday called for establishing a new forum to discuss an update of the criminal procedure law, including expanding the scope of cases subject to video and audio recordings of suspect interrogations. Mandatory recordings of law-enforcement authorities' interrogations were introduced in 2019 through a revision of the law prompted by a high-profile evidence-tampering scandal at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation division in 2010. The requirement covers cases independently investigated by public prosecutors and those to be handled in lay judge trials. The proportion of cases in which interrogations were recorded, however, has remained at 2-3 pct, and bar associations and other organizations are calling for an expansion of the range of cases subject to such recordings. The expert panel said that the interrogation recording system as a whole has no major problems. Meanwhile, it urged the ministry to take necessary measures through constant reviews of the law and its operation, noting that inappropriate interrogations were conducted during recordings in some cases. The panel also asked the ministry to consider setting up a new system to speed up criminal procedures in cases where suspects or defendants admit their guilt and to allow lawyers to be present at interrogations. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Today
5 days ago
- Japan Today
Mexico asks US to repatriate 14 nationals held in 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Mexico is seeking the repatriation of 14 nationals being held at the United States' detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz", President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday. "All arrangements are being made to ensure they are repatriated immediately," Sheinbaum told a daily press conference. The facility, about 37 miles (60 km) from Miami, sits in a subtropical wetland teeming with alligators, crocodiles and pythons, fearsome imagery the White House has leveraged to show its determination to purge migrants it says were wrongly allowed to stay in the United States under former President Joe Biden. Since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, a total of 73,533 people have been returned to Mexico, mostly by air, including 67,008 Mexican nationals, Sheinbaum said in another daily briefing this month. Mexican father Martin Gonzalez told local radio station W that his sons, Carlos and Alejandro, were now held in the detention center. "It's really bad. The facility is completely closed, not even sunlight gets in," Gonzalez said. "The lights are on 24-7, so they don't even know if it's day or night." He said they were sent there after Carlos, 26, was stopped by a state trooper while driving, adding that he was visiting the U.S. as a tourist and had a valid visa. The trooper asked for the car's registration, which was missing. When his brother, Alejandro, arrived to provide the document, he too was detained, and both were sent to the facility, their father said. "Obviously my sons are desperate to get out of this situation," he said. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the brothers had been detained during a traffic stop on July 7, adding Carlos had not registered his vehicle with the state and accumulated 212 toll violations. McLaughlin said Carlos was working illegally while on a tourist visa and Alejandro had overstayed his visa. Mexico's consul in Orlando, Juan Sabines, said in a video shared on Monday alongside the men's father that the two were in "legal limbo," because a lawyer appointed to their case did not have access to their file, and a judge had not been assigned. (Reporting by Natalia Siniawski, Ana Isabel Martinez and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio and Clarence Fernandez) © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
