The Sicilian town of Corleone, forever linked to the mafia by The Godfather films starring the family of the same name, is trying to escape its mobster past by urging a real life boss' son to leave.
Giuseppe Salvatore Riina returned home after six years in jail on Friday, decked out in designer clothes and dark glasses and carrying pastries for his mother. Released on a technicality after his imprisonment on charges of extortion, money laundering and mafia association, Riina, 28, swaggered down the streets, greeting friends, as locals stared.
But his return was condemned by Mayor Antonio Iannazzo, who insisted that Corleone had changed since Giuseppe's father, Salvatore "The Beast" Riina, built a murderous mafia empire in the 1970s and 1980s.
PHOTO: EPA
"We don't want him here," the mayor said. "Corleone does not forgive him and wants to push on with the process of change."
He was backed by the town council, which passed a motion stating: "In this region, where signs and symbols are important, [Riina] has generated a state of alarm among the public."
Corleone has been transformed since Giuseppe's arrest in 2002, reflecting the weakening of the mafia in the wake of the arrests of fugitive godfathers Bernardo Provenzano in 2006 and Salvatore Lo Piccolo last year.
Riina the elder, now 77, is serving 12 life sentences for murder after his arrest in 1993. His properties in and around Corleone have been seized and turned into a school, an office for the tax police and even a countryside bed and breakfast. An anti-mafia pop concert in the town in December drew thousands.
"Corleone has developed good antibodies," said a local official, Dino Paternostro.
The release of Riina's son last week came after it emerged that his trial, including the appeals process, was not concluded in time, freeing him about two years early thanks to a rule limiting to six years the time spent in custody before a definitive sentence.
Sicilian Senator Anna Finocchiaro said his release "undermined efforts by police, magistrates and society to combat organized crime."
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel