2023-11-20 17:31:36
Updated Monday, November 20, 2023 – 16:31
Among those convicted, a former deputy of Forza Italia, Berlusconi’s party, and a lieutenant of the carabinieri
The lawyers waiting for the reading of the sentence. GIANLUCA CHININEAAFP
More than 200 defendants in the largest trial against the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta have been convicted in the first sentence of the first macro-trial against this criminal organization, considered one of the strongest and most violent in the world.
Of the 343 accused, 131 were acquitted or their crimes were declared statute-barred and the rest were convicted, 208totaling about 2,100 years in prisoncompared to the 4,744 claimed by the Prosecutor’s Office, according to local media.
The trial opened in January 2021 against 343 accused of belonging to or collaborating with the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, one of the most powerful and bloodthirsty criminal organizations on the planet.
Such is the case that process it has been celebrated in a bunker built in an industrial park from the Calabrian town of Lamezia Terme for security reasons but also to be able to accommodate the accused and their defensive teams.
After a month of deliberations, and after read the sentence for almost two hoursjudges have convicted dozens of gangsters, politicians and local authorities.
Among the condemned, 11 to those of crcelfigure the former deputy of the ‘Berlusconian’ Forza Italia, Giancarlo Pittelliaccused of collaborating with this criminal organization, as well as the Lieutenant of the Carabinieri Giorgio Nasellia 2 and a half years.
The harshest sentences have been for the considered boss of the San Gregorio d’Ipona area, Saverio Rationalthat of Sant’Onofrio, Domenico Bonavotaor that of the Lo Bianco clan, Paolino Lo Biancoall 30 years away.
The biggest process after Palermo in 1986
This is the largest trial of the Italian mafia since the historic Palermo case against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in 1986, which revealed its structure for the first time and put more than 460 criminals and some of their bosses on trial.
On this occasion, the Italian authorities have chosen to hold the trial against the ‘Ndrangheta in the region from which it operates, Calabria, instead of doing so elsewhere, to send a message of strength and the presence of the State against organized crime. .
The accused, alleged gangsters and collaborators such as politicians, soldiers and businessmen, They were arrested in 2019 within the framework of the ‘Rinascita-Scott’ operation, directed and completed by the Catanzaro prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, in Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and Switzerland.
The accused have been charged with charges such as belonging to a mafia association, homicide, attempted homicide, extortion, illicit possession of weapons and explosives, influence trafficking, corruption, abuse of power and drug trafficking.
In it investigation center is the ‘ndrina’ or clan Mancusoconsidered by researchers to be one of the most powerful and influential families of the ‘Ndrangheta and true authority in the Calabrian province of Vibo Valentia.
Currently The ‘Ndrangheta is the most powerful mafia in Italy and one of the most prosperous on the planet, as it has a turnover of about 50,000 million euros a year, according to experts.
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