Overview
- Two detainees — Algerian Mahrez Souki, 32, and Syrian Kazem Mohmed Elokla, 23 — escaped overnight from Naples' Poggioreale, both in the medium-security circuit, through a hole in the perimeter and a makeshift rope, according to initial reports.
- Authorities report one of the two has been captured, the alarm reportedly activated during the escape, and early information indicates both had been jailed on robbery charges.
- Union officials describe Poggioreale as severely understaffed with a deficit of more than 150 officers, say new assignments due at the end of September will not close the gap, and renew calls for agreements with detainees' countries of origin.
- In a separate escape on Sunday in Bolzano, two detainees used construction scaffolding to scale an unguarded wall during recreation time, with a 30-year-old Moroccan later found in Merano and a 19-year-old Tunisian still at large after hospital treatment for leg injuries.
- The prison police union Uilpa cites a nationwide crisis with roughly 16,000 inmates over capacity and an 18,000-agent shortfall; Bolzano currently holds 98 inmates for 88 places with only 63 officers on duty.