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In Italy’s biggest mafia trial in decades, a former member of the ruling Forza Italia party was sentenced to eleven years in prison. Conservative politician Giancarlo Pittelli was found guilty on Monday by a court in the southern Italian city of Lamezia Terme of working for the criminal organization ‘Ndrangheta.
Forza Italia was the party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died in June. An ex-police officer and a former regional councilor were also sentenced to prison for being employed by the mafia.
More than three hundred suspected members or associates of the mafia have had to answer to the judiciary for almost three years. The Public Prosecution Service demanded sentences of up to 30 years in prison – a total of more than 4,700 years for all suspects.
Accusations: murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption
The reading of the many verdicts lasted several hours on Monday. The charges ranged from murder and membership of a criminal organization to drug trafficking and money laundering to corruption in government construction contracts.
The ‘Ndrangheta from Calabria was once the third mafia organization in Italy, after the Cosa Nostra from Sicily and the Camorra from Naples. Today it is by far Italy’s most powerful criminal group, with connections all over the world. According to experts, the cocaine trade in Europe is largely in their hands. Their worldwide turnover is estimated at more than 50 billion euros per year.
The basis for the trial, which has been running since January 2021, was the statements of more than fifty different key witnesses who renounced the ‘Ndrangheta. Normally in the mafia the ‘law of silence’ applies – which means that no one makes statements.
According to experts, the ‘Ndrangheta consists of about 150 families. In the 1980s, more than four hundred members of the mafia organization Cosa Nostra were tried in Sicily. (SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
