High-profile mafia trial opens in Sicily

A high-profile trial opened in Sicily on Monday on alleged negotiations between government officials and mafia godfathers following a series of bomb attacks and assassinations in the 1990s.

Published: 28 May 2013 14:44 CEST

Marcello Dell'Utri (L): Marcello Paternostro/AFP. Toto Riina (R): Ho/AFP

Ten people including then interior minister Nicola Mancino and then mafia leader Toto Riina are on trial and prosecutors have called as witnesses top figures like President Giorgio Napolitano.

"I fought against the mafia. I cannot be in the same trial as mafia bosses," Mancino said before the start of the hearing, Italian media reported.

"We will ask for the trial to be scrapped," said Mancino, who is only charged with false testimony.

A few anti-mafia activists heckled Mancino as he came out of the courtroom after the hearing shouting "Shame!" and "Mafia out of the state!"

The hearing was immediately adjourned to Friday following a request by prosecutors and defence lawyers for more time to consider applications submitted for civil plaintiffs in the trial.

The far-left Rifondazione Comunista party is so far the only plaintiff. Party leader Paolo Ferrero told reporters he was taking part in the trial in honour of "all the people killed by the mafia".

Prosecutors allege that after the assassinations of a top anti-mafia judge in 1992, senior Italian officials engaged in secret talks with the mafia.

The accusation is that they agreed to be lenient, allowing for fewer trials and easier prison conditions, in exchange for an end to the attacks.

Mancino is being tried with ex-senator Marcello dell'Utri and three former top police officers: Antonio Subranni, Mario Mori and Giuseppe De Donno.

Former mafia bosses Riina, Leoluca Bagarella and Antonio Cina, as well as mafia turncoats Giovanni Brusca and Massimo Ciancimino, are also on trial.

As part of the investigation, prosecutors wiretapped a private conversation between Mancino and Napolitano, which created a stand-off between the prosecutor's office and the Italian presidency.

After a court ruling, the wiretap has been destroyed and its contents have not been revealed.

Collusion between Italian officials and the mafia has often been alleged but few cases have gone to trial and even fewer have resulted in convictions.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.