The staff of the Figueres penitentiary center gathered on Tuesday morning to show their support for the director after learning of his resignation. The protest took place at eight o'clock sharp in Oliveras square, right in front of the prison facilities.
The workers rejected that the executive be used as a scapegoat in the face of the pressure generated by the latest suicide registered in the module. The slogan of the mobilization made clear the position of the civil servant collective regarding the administrative decision.
Five deaths since January
The context that explains this institutional crisis is the death of a 28-year-old inmate that occurred on April 27. The inmate took his own life in the Special Closed Regime Department while serving a three-year sentence for assault against authority.
The Catalan Government assures that the man did not have the suicide prevention protocol activated. The authorities argue that no prior indicators were detected that would justify the implementation of said protection mechanism.
This tragic event raises to five the number of inmates who have taken their own lives in Catalan prisons since the beginning of the year. The figure places the prison system under intense social and political scrutiny.
Union rejection of resignation
The UGT Prisiones union expressed its total disagreement with the director's resignation through an official statement. The organization considers that placing the entire burden of such a serious event on a single figure is a strategic and ethical error.
"If the decision responds to the will to unload political or administrative responsibilities onto a single person, it is a practice that they frontally reject." - UGT Prisiones, Union
Union representatives argue that the center's staff is acting with professionalism to avoid new cases. They warn that questioning management after a suicide can end up negatively affecting all the professionals who work daily at the facility.
The training demands more resources and real support for human teams. They insist on the need for a much deeper look at the structural factors involved in these dramatic episodes.
The Department of Justice and Democratic Quality confirmed that the director placed his position at the disposal of the Secretariat of Penal Measures and Reintegration a few days ago. The administration announced that it will appoint the person in charge of replacing him in the coming days.