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Posters outside the church declared Casamonica to be the "King of Rome" [EPA]
Italy's interior minister has voiced anger over an
extravagant funeral held for an alleged mafia boss, whose coffin was
carried through the streets of Rome in a gilded horse-drawn carriage as
rose petals were dropped from a helicopter.
Posters outside the San Giovanni Bosco church in the east of
the city on Thursday declared Vittorio Casamonica the "King of Rome",
while mourners were greeted with music from the film "The Godfather".
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and Rome's mayor Ignazio
Marino said on Friday that they were furious at the defiant spectacle,
as the city's police chief admitted to "a failure in the system".
"It is intolerable that a funeral should be used to pass mafia messages," Marino said on Twitter.RELATED: Pope Francis tells Italian mafia to repent
The funeral's level of ostentation prompted Alfano to demand
an explanation from city officials - especially after reports that
police and Carabinieri patrols accompanied the funeral procession.
Italy's civil aviation authority on Friday suspended the licence of
the helicopter pilot who flew low over Rome to drop flower petals during
the funeral.
Although he was never convicted of being a mafia don, the
65-year-old - who died of cancer - was the alleged head of Casamonica
clan, which reportedly runs drugs, fraud and extortion rings in Rome.
Mafia comes out on top in Italy's gambling parlours
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The day before Thursday's funeral, a judge had set a date
for the trial of 59 people charged in relation to corruption around the
awarding of city contracts.
The event has gone down particularly badly because in 2006
the same church refused a funeral to a terminally ill poet, Piergiorgio
Welby, who was helped to die by one of his doctors in a case that
divided Italy.
But the new priest in charge of the church said he knew nothing
of Casamonica's past, or of the pomp his friends had planned for his
send-off.
| The Casamonica clan reportedly runs drugs, fraud and extortion rings in Rome [EPA] |
Source: AFP
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