As some Mafia bosses leave prison over coronavirus, Italy balances public health with safety

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Italy begins to emerge from Europe's longest lockdown with limited reopenings

Millions are returning to work as schools remain closed; Amy Kellogg reports from Florence.

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Italian officials have released hundreds of criminals from prison -- including top Mafia bosses -- to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but anti-Mafia activists say the move is unnecessary and sends the wrong signal to organized crime.

In the past few months, Italy has released nearly 380 inmates from maximum-security prisons to house arrest, The New York Times reported. The inmates included international drug traffickers and members of organized crime gangs. Those granted house arrests were over the age of 70 and in poor health -- conditions that make them particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.

News of the prisoners’ release prompted a fierce backlash from the public. Some prosecutors said the pandemic, damaging to public health though it may be, did not warrant the release of dangerous criminals.

People wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus walk through the traditional vegetable market in Bolzano, known in German as Bozen, Italy, Monday, May 11, 2020.  (AP)

Italy’s top anti-Mafia prosecutor, Giancarlo Caselli, said the Mafia “feeds on signs” and returning its members to their respective territories “sends a message of retreat, of weakness that the Mafia can exploit.”

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Since enacting the policy earlier this year, Italy has reduced its overcrowded prisons from upward of 60,000 inmates to around 53,000, The Times reported.

Last week, Italian Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede said his office was working on plans to allow judges to reincarcerate the criminals who have been released, citing the decline in coronavirus cases in Italy.

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As of Wednesday, there are more than 222,100 confirmed cases in Italy with some 31,106 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The Associated contributed to this report.