Overview
- Prison officials said a 59-year-old Italian woman was found dead overnight in the women’s section of Rome’s Rebibbia facility and a second inmate was taken to hospital after a sudden illness.
- Authorities have opened an inquiry led by the prison police and ordered an autopsy with toxicology tests to determine the cause of death, with a possible drug link under examination.
- The ‘Giochi della Speranza’ sporting event scheduled inside Rebibbia was postponed out of respect for the deceased and her family, with organizers promising to reschedule.
- Lazio’s prison ombudsman reported 370 women held in 249 available places at Rebibbia’s female section and warned that overcrowding strains health care and supervision.
- The prison police union highlighted an evolving in-prison drug market and recent seizures totaling about 65 kilograms, while the Vatican’s Jubilee delegate urged alternatives to detention and clemency measures.