Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
PALERMO / NEWS – The funeral of Emanuele Rubino, 36 – a career criminal sentenced to 12 years for the 2016 attempted murder of a young Gambian citizen and to nine and a half years for extorting foreign shopkeepers – turned into an outright illegal parade through the heart of the Sicilian capital.
Rubino, who was under house arrest for health reasons before his death, was accompanied by a procession of more than a hundred people led by dozens of revving mopeds whose riders, without helmets, drove through the pedestrian area of via Maqueda, setting off firecrackers and creating high tension among residents and the many tourists present, who were left stunned and frightened.
The route through the heart of Ballarò and the videos on social media
Relatives and acquaintances of the deceased escorted the coffin on foot from Ballarò market to the Carmine church. Images of the procession and the scooter convoys were immediately shared and reposted by numerous social media profiles, sparking a wave of public indignation over the illegal occupation of pedestrian areas in the historic centre.
Mayor Roberto Lagalla’s stance
The mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, responded firmly to the incident:
“Palermo cannot accept entire streets and parts of the city becoming the stage for behaviour that makes citizens feel unprotected and unable to move freely in their own neighbourhoods.”
The mayor then clarified the control measures and the intervention by law enforcement along the route:
“I wish to stress that the funeral procession was promptly reported by the Municipal Police post at Quattro Canti, enabling us to intervene and prevent it from continuing in that direction. A timely intervention that avoided a repeat of even more serious and undignified scenes, as unfortunately happened during other funerals in the past.”
