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MAFIA

Italian mafia boss jailed for life over killings of Falcone and Borsellino

An Italian appeal court on Wednesday confirmed life imprisonment for former Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro for his role in the 1992 assassination of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Published: 20 July 2023 09:41 CEST
Italian mafia court
Italian judge Maria Carmela Giannazzo conducts a hearing in a bunker court in Caltanissetta, Sicily, for the 1992 Via D'Amelio bombing in Palermo, and the 1992 Capaci bombing. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

The court in Caltanissetta, Sicily, rejected the appeal lodged by the former head of the Cosa Nostra and upheld the life sentence handed down against him in October 2020. 

Messina Denaro, who had been on the run for 30 years, was only arrested in early 2023.

His lawyer Adriana Vella had argued for his acquittal, saying he had played no part in the murder of the two judges.

In May 1992, Falcone, his wife and three police bodyguards were killed when a massive explosion on the motorway between Palermo and the nearby Punta Raisi airport destroyed their car.

READ ALSO: How murdered judge Giovanni Falcone shaped Italy’s fight against the mafia

Two months later, Borsellino, a close associate of Falcone, who had adopted the same successful tactics against the mafia, was killed in another bombing along with five members of his escort.

The two assassinations created a political shockwave that led to a state crackdown on organised crime, with police and soldiers sent to Sicily to track down those responsible.

A number of senior mafia bosses were subsequently convicted of the killings.

Borsellino family lawyers

The lawyers of the Borsellino family pictured in a special bunker court in Caltanissetta, Sicily. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Messina Denaro, who headed up a major organised financial network, was arrested last January in Sicily. He had used a false name to attend medical appointments for the treatment of colon cancer.

He had already been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences for murders he either ordered or carried out personally.

READ ALSO: Ruthless Sicilian mafia boss Messina Denaro’s reign of terror

His conviction follows those of past leaders of Cosa Nostra Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. They both died in jail while serving their sentences, in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

Messina Denaro is currently being held in a maximum security prison in L’Aquila, in the central Abruzzo region, east of Rome.

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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