Overview

• Matteo Salvini said the 2017 statute on torture must be specified and narrowed to shield prison officers from potential prosecution.
• The government has not yet formalized changes and plans to work with prison police and other stakeholders on drafting the amendments.
• The move follows the recent security decree that introduced a crime of prison riot as part of broader jail order measures.
• Opposition parties including the Democratic Party, 5 Star Movement and Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra warned that rewriting the law could weaken Italy’s human rights commitments.
• Forza Italia signalled conditional backing but urged any revision to be drafted with the utmost legal rigor.