THE BOOT. 376 MAFIA MEMBERS AND DRUG TRAFFICKERS…
By: The Boot
Tags: Covid 19, Mafia, Italy, Justice, Italia

THE BOOT

376 MAFIA MEMBERS AND DRUG TRAFFICKERS NO LONGER IN JAIL. THEY ARE NOW UNDER HOUSE ARREST The Boot May 9, 2020·4 min read

Photo Credit: Charly W. Karl — Flickr

THE STORY

The switch from detention to house arrest of 376 mafia members and drug traffickers, is an insult to years and years of fight against mafia and organised crime in Italy.

Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country, the Department of Prison Administration, DAP, requested prison authorities to notify supervisory courts with the presence of ill inmates, to protect them from contracting the virus in detention.

“This has triggered a mechanism which has led to the house detention of hundreds of people. There has been an hemorrhage of releases”,

said Federico Cafiero de Raho, National Antimafia Prosecutor General.

The decision to release the 376 inmates has come after consideration of the risks of catching Covid-19 in light of their medical history or current condition. The majority of detainees that have been granted house arrest were held in high-security prison departments. Three out of 376 were living under the so-called ‘hard-prison regime’, a special provision used against people who carry mafia and terrorism allegations. The ‘hard-prison regime’ applies additional freedom restrictions to these inmates, such as solitary confinement and limited contact with the outside world.

85-year-old Franco Cataldo is among the detainees who are now under house arrest. His release from prison has sparked controversy. Mr. Cataldo was sentenced to life in prison as an accomplice in the abduction of 12-year-old Giuseppe di Matteo, the son of a former mafia member who then became a cooperating witness. Giuseppe was strangled and dissolved in acid out of spite to punish his father from turning his back to mafia.

Daily newspaper ‘La Repubblica’ published the list of all people that have been granted house arrest. Among them are other infamous names, such as Francesco Bonura, Vincenzo Iannazzo, Antonino Sacco and Rosalia di Trapani. At least 49 people serving sentences for mafia allegations are now back home in Sicily.

MEDICAL CARE VS PROTECTING SOCIETY

Denying medical care to detainees, no matter what crime they committed, is inhumane and anti-democratic. A democratic state can’t play the same game as the people that jails. Respect for life, rights and justice is what differs us from mafia and from organised crime.

However, other measures should have been taken to prevent 376 mafia members and drug traffickers being granted house arrest, while at the same time, providing them with the right medical care and protection they need, as writer Roberto Saviano underlines. The Department of Prison Administration, DAP, could have organised the transfer of the people at risk of contracting COVID-19, to penitentiary health centres. They didn’t, so the only measure that supervising magistrates had available was the house arrest.

House arrest is not the solution for many of these inmates. It’s a kick to justice. According to Italian prosecutors, many of the people who have been released still represent a threat to our society. Some even managed to communicate with the outside world while detained. Imagine what they could do now under house arrest!

Their release also endangers the lives of many cooperating witnesses, who have collaborated with the authorities and have now turned their lives around.

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Minister of Justice Alfonso Bonafede

The release of mafia members and drug traffickers is not a choice made by the Italian government. The opposition is trying to use this story for its campaigns, to destabilise the country and gain power. The judiciary is an independent body, until proven otherwise. Moreover, supervisory magistrates operated following provisions that were not enacted by this government.

The DAP is now working to halt the release of more mafia members and drug traffickers. The Council of Ministers have recently approved a decree subordinating such decisions to the prior opinion of the National Anti-Mafia Direction. Justice Minister Bonafede has also announced a decree allowing judges to review the release which have already taken place, in the light of the exit from the lockdown. The concern is that many under house arrest will escape before the decree will come into effect. So far, 456 mafia detainees have asked to be released according to a report sent by the DAP to Italian Minister of Justice Alfonso Bonafede.