The Frente Amplio party had wanted to question Martinelli, but the leader of the Frente Amplio party went ahead with his appearance before the legislature.

The appointment is in response to the death on September 25 of six prisoners of the Santiago Vazquez prison, the largest in the country.

They were locked in the cell which was set on fire in what the parliamentary commissioner, Juan Manuel Petit, described as a criminal act.

The same number of inmates were killed in that prison last December under similar circumstances.

At the bottom of the matter is the critical situation in Uruguayan prisons, denounced by legislators, Petit and authorities of the penitentiary system.

Overcrowding, poor health and internment conditions, lack of resources for maintenance, among other shortcomings, will surely be part of the discussion in the Parliament.

The Frente Amplio legislator Bettiana Diaz said that official complaints about the absence of protocols in prison visits will be included.

This was accompanied by reports that minors visit persons sentenced to prison for committing sexual crimes against children and adolescents.

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