Monday, Jul 26, 2004
Berlusconi softens Mafia jail regime
By John Hooper
ROME, JULY 25. A row over an apparent relaxation in prison conditions for Italy's jailed mobsters is reigniting suspicions in Italy over its Government's alleged relationship with the Mafia.
Leading mobsters such as Pietro Vernengo, known as "Bazooka Eyes' because of his terrifying gaze, a multiple murderer who dissolved some of his victims in acid and buried others in liquid concrete, are reportedly enjoying a surreptitious easing in their high-security regimes under Silvio Berlusconi's Government.
The issue is explosive, because any evidence of backsliding by Italy's conservative coalition would revive claims that its political grip on Sicily is the result of an understanding with Cosa Nostra. Mr. Berlusconi's allies won all the seats on the island at the last election.
Opposition MPs this week called for Mr. Berlusconi's Justice Minister to be summoned before Parliament's anti-Mafia committee to be grilled on the implementation of Italy's tough regime for mobsters. Police and prosecutors have long maintained that solitary confinement and other restrictions are vital, both as a deterrent and to prevent crime bosses from continuing to rule their gangs from behind bars.
Organised crime
The regime, known from the article in the Prison Act that authorises it as 41b, was first applied to prisoners convicted of organised crime by a decree in 1992. But it was only after Mr. Berlusconi came to office three years ago that its use against the Mafia and other crime syndicates was fully incorpor ated into Italian law. It is one of his Government's proudest boasts that it succeeded in getting the measure enacted after years of temporary renewals while the left was in Government.
On Tuesday, the Opposition's main representative on the committee, Giuseppe Lumia, accused the Justice Minister, Roberto Castelli, of "not telling the truth' about the number of 41b prisoners transferred to a normal prison regime in the first five months of this year. He said the real figure was 23, almost double the official 12. Already, in 2003, 72 prisoners had been beneficiaries of a change in status.
Mr. Lumia also listed a variety of ways in which, he claimed, prisoners kept on the strict regime were being allowed to get round its terms. Organised crime bosses, he said, were passing orders to - and receiving news from - their lieutenants during football games, in recreational breaks and even while attending Sunday Mass.
Anti-Mafia prosecutors had already expressed concern over the skill and ingenuity being deployed by Cosa Nostra dons to get round the restrictions imposed on them. Earlier this month, the newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Mafia's former "boss of bosses," Toto Riina, had sent coded messages to other Mafia chiefs disguised as comments about football or motor racing.
Convinced
Prosecutors were said to be convinced from a study of his intercepted correspondence that `AC Milan' actually referred to Mr. Berlusconi, who owns the club, and Formula One (F1) meant Forza Italia (FI), the Prime Minister's party.
In his reply to Lumia, Mr. Castelli did not challenge the Opposition's claims.
But he said he did not have responsibility for the application of 41b, which was a matter for specially appointed magistrates.
-© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.