(ANSA) Milan, July 14 - A local court revoked Monday the
open prison regime enjoyed by former Milanese underworld boss
Renato Vallanzasca after he was arrested for allegedly
shop-lifting in a supermarket.
One of Italy's most notorious gangsters, Vallanzasca was
allowed to leave prison on day release last year to work in a
leather workshop despite serving four life prison terms
consecutively for racketeering and murder.
On June 13 Vallanzasca was arrested on charges of stealing
two pairs of boxer undershorts and other items from a
supermarket.
Vallanzasca said he was "stitched up" by authorities
because he soon would have become eligible for release for good
behaviour.
A lawyer for the former bandit, Debora Piazza, criticised
the decision by Milan's panel of surveillance court judges to
take away his privileges, saying "this decision doesn't fit well
with the presumption of innocence".
The 63-year-old Vallanzasca, once romanticised for his
prison breaks and life on the run and nicknamed 'Il Bel Rene'
(Handsome Rene'), became a rebel figure for some in the
politically turbulent 1970s.
A film accused of glamorising him sparked debate at the
2010 Venice Film Festival, with director Michele Placido
criticised for a sympathetic portrait of a ruthless criminal who
committed seven murders, three kidnappings and scores of armed
robberies.
Placido was slammed for, among other things, casting
heartthrob actor Kim Rossi Stuart in the lead role, making
Vallanzasca seem a charming, seductive figure and failing to
consult victims' families during production.
The row escalated when Placido replied that Vallanzasca
had an "ethic to his evil", that if he appeared seductive in the
film it was because the work was true to life and that "there
are people in parliament who have done worse".
Vallanzasca was first sent to jail in 1972 but he escaped
several times and spent long spells out as a fugitive.
He orchestrated many prison riots during his time inside
but most recently appeared to have mellowed.
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