Islam in Italian Prisons
Charles Johnson
Tue Oct 4, 2005 at 3:44 pm PDT • Views: 204
An interesting piece from the LA Times on Italy’s efforts to prevent the spread of radical Islam in their prison system: In a Prison’s Halls, the Call to Islam. (Hat tip: Ron.)
The delicate balance for wardens like Lucia Castellano at Bollate is allowing inmates to practice their faith without letting the institution be used to recruit and indoctrinate extremists.
“I’m a little scared of the imams,” she says. “They don’t speak Italian, we can’t understand them, and in Milan that can be quite dangerous.” As a consequence, and in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, she has banned imams from outside the prison. Milan has long been known as a center of radical Islam, and one of its principal mosques was named by U.S. and Italian authorities as a likely European headquarters for Al Qaeda.
Instead, Castellano allows the Muslims in each cellblock to appoint an imam from among themselves.
Still, the inability to understand the language being spoken in many cells is worrisome, says Castellano, a red-haired native of Naples, one of Italy’s toughest cities. Her office is decorated with Andy Warhol prints of Marilyn Monroe on one wall, a crucifix on another.
“Each of my head guards can tell me who the boss [of the Muslim inmates] is on each floor,” she says. “It does not mean that they are terrorists, but they are organized. We are paying attention. We are watching.”
But the warden and her guards can only guess at what devout prisoners such as Jendoubi are preaching.
Frank says: