" 2025 is a year to forget for the island's prisons . A real disaster with an exponential increase in the number of inmates under the 41bis regime." This is what is reported in the annual report on the state of prisons in Sardinia , edited by the Socialismo diritti riforma (SDR) association, chaired by Maria Grazia Caligaris, which leaves no room for optimism for 2026 either.

THE NUMBERS – There are currently 92 inmates under the 41bis regime at Bancali prison in Sassari, and another 92 will soon be joined in Uta , reaching the highest rate of citizens held in maximum security in Italy . Sardinia will thus surpass the "Costarelle" of L'Aquila, where, to date, approximately 160 people are held under the 41bis regime . Once work is completed on the Badu 'e Carros section designated for maximum security, this negative record will further increase by approximately 15-20 people . The possibility of a dedicated, hard-line prison at the Nuoro prison even suggests that, if the decisions are upheld, at least another 40 people could be detained in the coming months , always under the careful monitoring of the prison administration department through the agents of the mobile operations group.

The island's prison system houses 2,583 inmates for 2,374 places . The high presence of 41bis prisoners , approximately 600 divided between 5 institutions , and non-EU citizens , approximately 760 , makes the organizational system particularly complex. The president of the association, Maria Grazia Caligaris, says: "With the arrival of the new regional superintendent Antonio Arena and the installation of the new heads of the penitentiary institutions, we had deluded ourselves that there would finally be a turning point and the prisons would experience a period of stability. Unfortunately, instead, we are actually seeing a setback . The Ministry , in fact, increasingly appears to be a "leviathan" that centralizes and devours all the prerogatives of the system . The island in fact has a chronic shortage of personnel with around 200 fewer prison officers than expected (50 in Cagliari-Uta alone) and as many as 60 administrative staff , both of which are indispensable to ensure that the institutions operate in accordance with the constitution and to guarantee the work of the legal-pedagogical officials and the social reintegration projects".

President Caligaris also comments on the number of inmates present in the island's penitentiaries . Currently, there are 39 people in Nuoro , despite the fact that there are 1,100 Sardinian inmates. In Uta , there are 738 inmates, including 32 women, for 561 places. In Bancali , in addition to the 92 in 41bis, there are 578 inmates, including 23 women, for 458 places . Tempio prison is also in crisis with 193 inmates for 163 places ; Alghero 165 for 156 places ; Massama-Oristano 296 for 264 places and Arbus where there are 138 inmates for 126 places . At the "San Daniele" in Lanusei there are 39 for 33. In Isili 129 for 107 spaces. At Mamone in Nuoro the numbers are just right, 209 for 209 places.

PRISONERS' HEALTH – Prisoners' health issues must not be overlooked. Prison healthcare is managed by staff with a sense of sacrifice, yet they struggle to consistently provide adequate responses to needs. Thus , inmates' families suffer from the difficulties they encounter in interviewing them and learning about their relatives' actual living conditions .

President Caligaris concludes : "More or less loud alarms are not enough. The island's political community must take charge of the problems , conduct regular visits to prisons , and recognize the dignity of all professionals and of those who, by serving their sentences appropriately, can truly return to a better society ."

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