Some 46 inmates of Rome's Rebibbia
Prison were indicted Friday for a March 2020 riot against COVID
restrictions at the jail.
Another four inmates opted for a fast-track trial.
They face charges of criminal damages, abduction, robbery and
devastation.
The riot took place on March 9, 2020.
It was part of a wave of unrest in 27 Italian jails that killed
seven people with many inmates asking for an amnesty due to the
virus emergency.
Serious riots took place at San Vittore in Milan and
Rebibbia in Rome where, as well as burning mattresses, some
inmates attacked the infirmaries.
The protesters were angry at the restriction of face time with
visiting relatives due to the coronavirus.
Jails had been ordered to stop all visits and limit day
releases.
Rights campaigners warned of mass revolts over the new
measures, and families gathered outside prisons to protest the
restrictions, and to get news of their loved ones.
The Italian jail system is designed to hold some 51,000
inmates, but has upwards of 61,000, leading to chronic
overcrowding.
Most of the ihe inmates who died did so after overdosing on
drugs raided from prison pharmacies.
One was also killed by smoke inhalation.
Riots took place in Naples, Foggia, Prato, Mantua, Frosinone,
Pavia, Modena and other places.
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