Italy's Berlusconi bans mafia from singing in prison

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Recently, the Italian government has been getting tough on mafia, rounding up several Mafiosi and putting them in prison. Inside prison, however, mafia bosses enjoy all the amenities such as TV, gyms and conjugal visits. Officials learned that godfathers were still controlling their groups and people outside with coded words inside songs.

Silvio Berlusconi’s new center-Right government wants to toughen up prison and prevent mafia from continuing activities inside. The government has introduced tough regulations to curb Mafiosi activities. The Justice Minister Angelino Alfonso passed a regulation that will ban inmates from singing and socializing with fellow mobsters.

The regulation was passed after informers told prison officials Mafiosi members were passing messages and orders in songs. To avoid detection, they sang in their native dialects such as Sicilian, Neapolitan or Pugliese.

Alfanso told the Telegraph:

''We are toughening up the rules and coming down hard on the Mafia even when they are in jail. They will not be allowed to socialize and they will not be allowed to sing.

In addition to the ban, the government put imprisoned Mafiosi members in northern Italy prisons to keep them away from their native south. The new regulation will keep the prisoners in their cells for 23 hours a day and allow them only an hour of open air exercise. Also, the government has curtailed visits from the prisoners' family, friends and lawyers.

The 10 prisons affected by this ruling have 570 convicted mobsters and have prominent Godfathers such as Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. However, the prisoners are allowed to join the ice cream making classes at Opera prison in Milan.