ROME – Italy's justice minister has given special permission to the family of a Mafia boss who is in a coma to visit his bedside.
Justice Minister Andrea Orlando on Thursday authorized relatives of Salvatore "Toto" Riina to go see him at a hospital in the northern city of Parma.
Ministry officials say Riina, who turned 87 on Thursday, is in a medically induced coma. Italian media have reported that his health has deteriorated following two recent surgeries.
Riina is serving 26 life sentences for murder convictions as a powerful Cosa Nostra boss. He was captured in Palermo, Sicily, his powerbase, in 1993 after more than 20 years as a fugitive.
He has been imprisoned under a law that requires strict security measures for top mobsters, including limits on family visits.
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