41bis Detention for Matteo Messina Denaro Not Up for Discussion: Health Remains Priority

 The potential for invoking a 41bis, a strict detention regime, for Matteo Messina Denaro is not under consideration as it "does not compromise health care." These words come from Andrea Delmastro delle Vedove. The Undersecretary of State for Justice released a press statement just 24 hours after the attorney for the Cosa Nostra boss hinted at the possibility of filing a release request. Delmastro has emphasized that "after analyzing the facts and documentation, we reserve the right to decide on the most appropriate strategy for filing the request," as explained by the lawyer Alessandro Cerella.

This hypothesis prompted Delmastro to intervene: "Without encroaching on the judiciary's jurisdiction, it is clarified that the mafioso Matteo Messina Denaro receives the best medical care, and the revocation of the 41 bis would not in any way lead to improved or even different medical care," writes the Undersecretary. The Deputy of Brothers of Italy specifies that "the inmate Matteo Messina Denaro is consistently monitored by a specialist, undergoes prescribed tests and analyses, and no additional therapy could be performed outside of confinement." Consequently, his clinical condition, "in light of the ongoing medical treatment, does not constitute a basis for revoking the special detention regime of the so-called 'hard prison'." Delmastro goes even further: "If anything, the willful exclusion of any collaborative attitude, the defiant attitude towards the State, the lack of any sign of remorse, and the proud assertion of non-repentance are symptomatic indicators of current social dangerousness and the intention to maintain a leading role within the organization, which is not compatible with any hypothesis of mitigating the prison regime," concludes the Undersecretary.

This reference pertains to the words of the Cosa Nostra godfather uttered during his first interrogation shortly after his arrest: "I will never become a collaborator. You took me for my illness," Messina Denato had told the magistrates during a 1 hour and 40-minute questioning. The former fugitive is currently at San Salvatore Hospital in L'Aquila, where he underwent surgery for an obstruction "not directly linked to cancer." Regarding the request for release announced by the defense attorneys of the Cosa Nostra boss, Gianmarco Cifaldi, the Detainee Ombudsman of Abruzzo, also weighed in: "We ensure the right to health with qualified medical staff, and all State Agencies are operating in accordance with constitutional principles, including myself."