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| The town of Corleone |
As reported by:
Nick Squires, Rome
Corleone apologizes for decades of Mafia murders
Corleone, the Sicilian hill town that is synonymous
with the Mafia through books and films, has asked forgiveness for the murders,
shootings and intimidation committed by its godfathers.
The appeal was made by the mayor of the town on the
20th anniversary of the arrest of a Corleone-born mafia leader, Toto Riina,
nicknamed "The Beast" for his ruthlessness and brutality.
Leoluchina Savona apologized to victims of the
Mafia's vendettas, bombings and killings on behalf of the inhabitants of the
town, which was immortalized by The Godfather book and subsequent films
starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.
"I apologize in the name of all the people of
Corleone. I ask forgiveness for the blood that was spilled," the mayor
said on Monday during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of Riina's arrest.
"To the Mafia, I ask you to leave this land, to
abandon the struggle. I ask them to admit defeat, to surrender."
Politicians, police and ordinary people killed by
the Mafia, including prominent prosecutors Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni
Falcone, who were blown up in bomb attacks in 1992, did not die in vain.
"In the 20 years since the arrest of Toto
Riina, their blood reminds us all that there can only be one path to choose in
this war (that of legality)," she said.
Once the "capo di tutti capi" (boss of
bosses) of the powerful Corleonesi faction of the Mafia, Riina is serving
multiple life-sentences after being convicted of several murders, including the
assassination of rival gangsters.
He was succeeded by Bernardo "The
Bulldozer" Provenzano, who in turn was arrested in 2006 after more than 40
years as a fugitive.
References to The Godfather in Corleone are
everywhere – a bar on the main street offers a bitter aperitif called "Don
Corleone Amaro", while just across the road, the walls of a pastry shop
are covered in black and white pictures of Brando and Pacino in scenes from the
films.
NOTE: The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film
directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy from a
screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Wikipedia
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Release
date: March 15, 1972 (initial release)
MPAA
rating: R
Running
time: 178 minutes
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