And then they say the system fails to reintegrate individuals into society, yet today we have witnessed what could clearly be described as a political miracle. It turns out that the former mayor of Rome and prominent member of the country's far-right bloc, Gianni Alemanno, has now become a proactive campaigner for prisoners' rights in his country's prisons.
Alemanno began his political career at a very young age. He started out in the youth wing of the post-fascist MSI party, served under the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as Minister for Agriculture, and was mayor of Rome from 2008 to 2013. A year and a half ago, he was imprisoned after being convicted of influence-peddling and abuse of power, and was released on 24 June. The experience, we imagine, must have been an eye-opener for him.
Although he has not abandoned his ideas or his stance, he began in the youth wing of the post-fascist MSI party, served under the late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as Minister for Agriculture and was Mayor of Rome from 2008 to 2013. He is now seeking an (unlikely) balance between a tough stance on the law and prisoners' rights, within one of Europe's most overcrowded prison systems.
"Only those who have been in prison, or have relatives there, understand the problem of prisons. The rest don't understand it; they don't see it at all," Alemanno told Reuters in an interview.
In any case, Gianni Alemanno has found himself a strange ally in his struggle. He has joined forces with former general Roberto Vannacci in his new far-right party, Futuro Nazionale, which aims to steal ground from Meloni in the upcoming 2027 elections, and whose rhetoric centres on warmongering and the following statement on migration: "We don't have an immigration programme; we have a remigration programme."
Good luck, Alemanno. You're going to need it.