The supreme Court of Cassation on
Monday rejected a petition by Giovanni Brusca, the Sicilian
mafia boss who set off the explosive that killed anti-Mafia
prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992, to be released from jail to
house arrest.
Falcone's sister Maria welcomed the decision, having argued
Brusca did not deserve further benefits after "receiving over 80
permits" in exchange for supplying police with information on
the Mob.
She said he had never shown real evidence of having turned
over a new leaf and repented for his crimes, which included
strangling and dissolving in acid a 15-year-old boy, Giuseppe Di
Matteo, who was the son of a mafia informant.
"You may accept the idea that criminals who cooperate with
the State are granted benefits for a higher goal," said Maria
Falcone.
"But it remains unacceptable to give further concessions to
someone soiled by such heinous crimes".
Former national anti-mafia prosecutor and former Senate
Speaker Pietro Grasso said that, while he respected the ruling,
he did not think the State should treat Brusca the same way as
late Cosa Nostra bosses Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.
"It is right that Riina and Provenzano remained in jail until
their deaths, but someone like Brusca cannot be assessed in the
same way," Grasso told Tuesday's Corriere della Sera.
"He has spent over 23 years in prison and in two years' time
his sentence will be served.
"He gets permits that, in some ways, give him more freedom
than house arrest.
"It shows that cooperating (with the State) pays".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
