Families of Sicilian mafia victims fear return of freed mobsters

Most of the bosses, released from prison on furlough or for good behaviour, have never disavowed Cosa Nostra

Families of victims killed by the Sicilian mafia have expressed fears that more than 20 senior mobsters released over the last three months may now return to the neighbourhoods they once controlled.

The majority of these bosses, some of whom held leadership roles in the main mafia families of Sicily's capital, Palermo, have never disavowed Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, and have always refused to cooperate with the judicial authorities. They have been released on furlough or for good behaviour.