Mafia bosses to be freed as victims decline to file charges

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 12 - Three Cosa Nostra bosses are set to be freed due to a norm in last year's justice reform framed by former justice minister Marta Cartabia which lays down that prosecutions can only start on the basis of victims' complaints or reports, judicial sources in Palermo said Thursday.
    In the case in point, the victims have refused to file the required charges against the bosses, perhaps fearing reprisals.
    Palermo prosecutors have thus been forced to request their trio's arrest warrants and charges be revoked, sources said.
    Italian prosecutors had warned of the fight against crime being weakened by the Cartabia norm.
    In one example, they said that foreign tourists often leave the country after having their bags snatches, before filing a complaint, leaving prosecutors powerless to follow up.
    The prosecutors had also warned that many victims might be intimidated by alleged perpetrators.
    The president of Italian magistrates union ANM, Giuseppe Santalucia, told ANSA that the "the recent media reports on the likely revocation of custody measures for crimes that hace become subject to complaints, even when there is the aggravating factor of mafia methods, impose a rethink, as quickly as possible, of the legislator's choices".
    Santalucia said the Cartabia reform must be swiftly adjusted to make sure these cases were no longer possible. (ANSA).