ROME – Antonino Mandalà was considered to be one of the leaders of mafia group Villabate and one of the mafia bosses closest to the chief of the Sicilian Mafia clan known as the Corleonesi, Bernado Provenzano. But now Mandalà has been allowed to present his new book in a building owned by the Municipality of Palermo.

 Many significant figures have raised their dismay at what happened.  Ismaele La Vardera, an elected deputy to the Sicilian Regional Assembly said that "It is incredible that an official room of the Municipality of Palermo has been granted to Mandalà, considered by the investigators the mafia leader of Villabate. This gentleman has never regretted it, his family has always been close to Provenzano. And the Municipality grants him a room for a magnificent presentation with a lot of authorization. I wonder how these things turn out to be normal inside the buildings. I sincerely hope that Mayor Roberto Lagalla will take immediate measures.”

 However others have shown their support for the municipality’s decision. Pino Apprendi, municipal guarantor for the rights of detainees, has said that "Mandalà, already convicted of mafia related offenses , has served his sentence. In the few meetings I have had with him, he expressed his willingness to reconcile himslelf with life through writing. I'm not a priest and I don't give acquittals, I'm not a magistrate and I don't convict anyone, I believe in the prison that rehabilitates.”

 This is not the first time that Mandalà has been afforded the opportunity to speak at a municipality building. In 2016, when the mayor of Palermo was Leoluca Orlando, Mandalà presented his previous work, entitled "La vita di un uomo" (Spazio cultura edizioni), dedicated to his son Nicola, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of entrepreneur Salvatore Geraci

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