Mobsters’ virus-tied transfers rescinded

ROME — Italian convicted mobsters who had been temporarily transferred from prison to house arrest for fear of coronavirus contagion are being put back behind bars, the country’s justice minister said Thursday, after their release triggered severe criticism.

Alfonso Bonafede has come under fire after more than 370 convicted mobsters and drug traffickers successfully argued that they needed to be temporarily released to avoid becoming infected with the coronavirus in prison.

The Corriere della Sera daily Thursday reported that one of the first inmates returned to prison was a convicted Cosa Nostra boss, Antonio Sacco. He was one of a handful of top Mafiosi who won temporary release despite being incarcerated in a cell on his own under strict prison rules for mobsters, which also include limited occasions to mingle with other inmates.

Responding to questions Thursday from members of Chamber of Deputies’ Justice Commission, Bonafede confirmed that mobsters were being ordered back to prison. “The [administrative] machinery has started to review the health situation of those who asked to get out,” the minister said.

Last month, opposition lawmakers demanded that the justice minister explain how a convicted organized crime boss was granted house arrest because of the covid-19 outbreak.

Pasquale Zagaria had been receiving cancer treatment at a hospital ward for prisoners on the island of Sardinia. But after the ward was converted to care for inmates with coronavirus infections, cancer treatment was no longer available there and so he was transferred to temporary house arrest.