Prison riots erupt across Italy in protest of anti-coronavirus measures

Violence erupted in more than 25 detention facilities across Italy Sunday and Monday, after authorities curtailed prisoner rights as part of a strategy to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Authorities limited prisoner visitation right to help prevent the rapid spread of the virus, and put restrictions on furloughs and parole hearings. According to the text of the decree, the changes were part of a broad decree that put most of northern Italy under lockdown, limiting the movement of more than a quarter of the country's population.

As of Sunday, Italy had more than 6,000 active cases of COVID-19, according to Italian public health officials.

Riots that broke out Sunday gained steam Monday, when prisoners caught on camera atop the San Vittore Prison in Milan after overpowering guards and setting parts of the facility on fire. Footage of the scene was broadcast by Italian television news programs including those aired by state broadcaster RAI.

Prisoners at the Regina Coeli prison in Rome were reportedly on protest, forcing guards to call in reinforcement, a police official quoted on television news reports said.

On Sunday, prisoners in Modena took two guards hostage and scaled the prison's fence to escape, according to news reports in multiple Italian news reports, including one in Corriere della Sera. In Pavia, a wing of the prison was set on fire and prisoners had to be relocated, the same news report in Corriere della Sera said.

According to the Italian news agency AGI and many other Italian media, six prisoners died after they broke into an infirmary during a protest and overdosed on the drugs inside.

After years of budget cutbacks, Italy's prisons are overcrowded, with more than 61,000 inmates held in facilities designed for no more than 51,000, local news reports cited a report released by Italy's Ministry of Interior earlier this year as reporting.