Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Pope "unambiguously denounced the cruelty and brutality of the abuses that are committed in prison. Has made it clear that life imprisonment is a sentence of death in disguise and has pointed the finger firmly against those states that carry out inhumane practices such as preventive detention and torture. In a context such as India, where these evils are rampant, his words give strength to the Catholic Church. I hope that soon it will address the issue of reform of the judicial system", says Arun Ferreira. The activist for Dalits and tribal rights was imprisoned for four years on false charges, from 2007 to 2011, where he was often a victim of torture.
Commenting to AsiaNews on the speech given yesterday by Pope Francis to the International Association of Criminal Law, Ferreira said: "Although worldwide there has been a growing movement for the abolition of death penalty, many abolistionists have advocated an erroneous alternative as imprisonment for the whole of one's natural life. In my recently published prison memoir, 'Colours of the Cage' [click here] I have through an anecdote of a prisoner sentenced to more than 70 years sought to bring forth how such incarceration is even worse than death".
Asghar, the name of the offender, "was the only Muslim detainee. Jailed on charges of helping a terrorist to blow up a piece of railroad in the vicinity of Mumbai, before prison he was a florist and a private driver. In jail, he worked as gardener and keeping the gallows clean. Despite the grim task he was expected to do, he was extremely friendly and witty. He often said he would have preferred a death sentence rather than life in prison. A death instant, he said, would end the suffering of his family and would allow them to start over".
The Pope, says the activist, "has exposed ambiguities and has strongly argued that life imprisonment is a death sentence in disguise. As the Pope pointed out, this is not a viable alternative."
