A dedication to a mafia family on
a hot-air balloon that flew during the feast of a Puglia town's
patron saint was not illegal, local anti-mafia investigators
said Thursday.
But the flight of the balloon during the feast of San Rocco
at Velanzano near Bari, bearing the name of mafia suspect
Salvatore Buscemi's family, may not have been authorised and
thus may incur a penalty, judicial sources said.
The 'bowing down' of saints' statues as a sign of respect
outside the homes of mafia bosses was quite common during
southern Italian processions until recently, when the government
banned the practice.
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