An italian guy killed in prison

This is an unbelievable story. Stefano Cucchi, a 31 year old Italian guy who suffers from epilepsy, has died in prison after being beaten up in mysterious circumstances. Stefano was arrested by Italian police for possession of small quantity of drugs (29 grams). A week after he entered prison he died. The photos spread by his family are terrible. On his body there are signs of beatings.

The family has complained to the authorities that they did not have access to him while he was in prison now they spread terrible photos of the battered body that they have recently obtained. The chief of the prison says that he was in that condition when he entered the prison. But how it’s possible die in this way?

The Italian police too often have been responsible of violence and unacceptable attacks against citizens. How is it possible to forget how the confused days during the G8 in Genoa concluded with the murder of Carlo Giuliani, after a street riot between demonstrators and police? Or the sad story of the carpenter Aldo Bianzino killed in prison because he was discovered cultivating marijuana? As Italian citizens we can’t forget many situations in which police acted without control. Why does the border between power and rights often disappear and transform itself in arbitrary violence?  

Why does it frequently happen that people who enter prison for drugs possession in Italy die within a few days?

Is the current law on drugs established by Berlusconi’s government leading to a dangerous discrimination towards drug users? This discrimination is not just the problem of stigmatization and criminalization. We are speaking about a baser violation of human rights. We are speaking about homicide.