LABITA v. ITALY JUDGMENT
10
48. Following the report by the judge responsible for the execution of
sentences, an inquiry was nonetheless started and the information obtained
was sent to the Livorno public prosecutor's office. Only two warders had
been identified; they were suspected of offences of causing bodily harm
(Article 582 of the Criminal Code) and of abuse of authority over persons
who had been arrested or detained (Article 608 of the Criminal Code).
49. The public prosecutor's office sought an order for both charges to be
dropped, the former because no complaint had been lodged and the latter
because it was time-barred. The application was allowed with regard to the
offence of causing bodily harm, but dismissed with regard to the other
charge and on 20 December 1996 the investigating judge sought additional
information. That inquiry is believed still to be under way.
50. In a note of 12 December 1996 – which was appended to the
Government's observations in the proceedings before the Commission – the
President of the court responsible for the execution of sentences in Florence
said that the incidents that had taken place in Pianosa Prison had been
ordered or tolerated by the government of the day. He also considered that
the applicant's allegations concerning the conditions during transfers were
entirely credible and that transfers of prisoners to Pianosa Prison were
carried out using questionable and unjustified methods, the real purpose of
which was to intimidate prisoners. He further noted that the high-security
wing of Pianosa Prison had been staffed by warders from other prisons who
had not been subjected to any selection process and had been given “carte
blanche”. The result, according to the President of the court, was that
management of that wing of the prison had initially been characterised by
abuse and irregularities.
C. Censorship of the applicant's correspondence
1. Application of section 41 bis of the Prison Administration Act
51. On 20 July 1992 the Minister of Justice issued an order subjecting
the applicant to the special prison regime laid down in section 41 bis of
Law no. 354 of 1975 until 20 July 1993. The Minister considered that the
measure was necessary in particular because of serious public-order and
safety considerations following an escalation of an aggressive and ruthless
campaign by the Mafia, which had been responsible for the recent
assassinations of three judges and eight policemen and for car-bomb attacks
in large Italian cities. That situation made it necessary to sever connections
between certain prisoners and their milieu. The applicant was subject to the
measure concerned because he was of bad character and dangerous; those
factors suggested that he had maintained contact with the criminal milieu
which he would be able to use to issue instructions or establish links with
the outside world that could in turn lead to a breakdown of public order or