Italy's highest appeals court has annulled 13 verdicts in one of the country's most infamous Mafia murders, causing widespread dismay days after the 10th anniversary of the killing.
The 13 Mafia bosses had been sentenced along with 21 others over the murder of top anti-Mafia prosecutor Mr Giovanni Falcone, killed in 1992 by a bomb blast along with his wife and three bodyguards.
In its ruling, issued yesterday, the appeals court said the 13 would have to be tried again.
Mr Falcone's murder, which was followed two months later by the killing of his colleague Mr Paolo Borsellino, shook the nation and forced the state into finally passing a battery of tough anti-Mafia laws.
"I am dismayed. It seems a sentence that goes against Giovanni (Falcone's) ideas. All the bosses must have been aware the attack was to be carried out", Mr Falcone's sister, Maria, said today.
The 13 bosses had been handed life sentences for their complicity in Falcone's murder on the basis of a legal argument at the centre of other major Mafia trials launched by famous Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta.
Buscetta had said decisions on major murders were made by all top bosses together.
Also yesterday, eight Mafiosi sentenced to life imprisonment for murders in western Sicily were freed due to a procedural error.