Italy to give state funeral to Mafia martyr 'It's for all the slain trade unionists' says Rizzotto's nephew

Italy decided Friday to grant a state funeral to Placido Rizzotto, a Socialist trade unionist slain by the Mafia in 1948 for fighting for land reform. Rizzotto's remains, which were identified lask week, were discovered in 2009 in a cave outside Corleone, a small town near Palermo notorious for Mafia activity and made famous by the Godfather films. The decision to grant a state funeral came after a week-long campaign that went viral on Facebook and Twitter.

"It's an important acknowlegement that sprang forth spontaneously from the public," said Placido Rizzotto's nephew, who is named after his uncle.

Mafia boss Luciano Liggio was tried for Rizzotto's abduction and murder but acquitted for insufficient evidence.

A shepherd boy who witnessed the murder, Giuseppe Letizia, was killed by the Mafia.

Rizzotto, an ex-partisan and member of the leftwing CGIL union who became a banner for the fight against the Mafia, was 34 when he disappeared.

His remains went missing amid a police probe led by Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, who climbed to the rank of Carabinieri general and was killed by Cosa Nostra boss Nitto Santapaola in 1982.

A group that uses land taken from the Mafia to grow crops has been named after Rizzotto.

Funeral arrangments were to be made as soon as the analysis of the remains was complete. Rizzotto's nephew paid tribute to the numerous trade unionists who have been killed by the mafia and whose killers have never been brought to justice. "The state funeral for my uncle will be for all of those unionists," he said.