US judge says Italian mobster would face ‘torture’ if extradited home

ITALY’S justice minister has objected to a US court’s refusal to extradite a convicted Mafia drug trafficker on the grounds that a special prison regime he would face in Italy is equivalent to torture.

Rosario Gambino completed a 22-year jail term in California for drug trafficking about a year ago and has since been kept in an immigration detention centre pending an extradition request from his native Sicily.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported that a US immigration judge had ruled that in Italy, Gambino would face a harsh special prison regime that “constitutes torture”.

The judge was referring to a prison regime known as 41b, originally designed for mobsters and extended to crimes such as terrorism. It strictly limits contact with the outside world, visits, access to the open air and contact with other prisoners.

Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella said he was trying to find out details of the ruling from the US embassy. He questioned whether Italy’s special prison regime was really “torture”.

Mr Mastella contrasted use of the death penalty in the US with Italy’s ban on capital punishment.

“I don’t know if a country that applies the death penalty is more in line with UN values than a country that applies tough prison sentences,” Mr Mastella told reporters.