The court’s decision was announced in the largest mafia trial of the last 30 years against the organized crime organization “Ndrangheta” based in the Calabria region in the south of the country.
In the case, whose first hearing was held in January 2021 in a specially built courtroom in the city of Lamezia Terme, and which is also publicly known as “Rinascita Scott”, the connections of high-level people from fields such as politics, state and economy with the most dangerous mafia of the organized crime world, such as Ndrangheta, were investigated.
According to the news in the Italian press, it took 1 hour and 40 minutes to announce the verdict in the big mafia case, in which 338 defendants were tried and lasted 2 years and 10 months.
207 PEOPLE WERE CONVICTED
While 207 of the defendants were convicted, it was stated that the total prison sentences given to the defendants were more than 2,100 years.
It was noted that those who were punished by the political and security bureaucracy were generally convicted for roles such as facilitating and assisting the activities of a criminal organization.
11 YEARS IN PRISON FOR THE MP
Giancarlo Pittelli, who is currently a two-term member of parliament from Forza Italia, one of the ruling party parties, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the charge of externally assisting the criminal organization.
Lieutenant Colonel Giorgio Naselli from the Italian Gendarmerie (Carabinieri) was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for leaking secret official documents to the mafia.
Former Financial Police Officer Michele Marinaro was also sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison on charges of leaking secret documents and being involved in the mafia from the outside.
Former District Council Member Pietro Giamborino was also sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison.
This case was the biggest mafia case in Italy since the big case in which 475 people were tried against the mafia organization “Cosa Nostra” in Sicily between 1986 and 1992.
TOTAL 400 ACCUSES
The prosecutor’s office had filed a total of 400 charges against the defendants, such as “weapons smuggling”, “drug smuggling”, “murder” and “membership of an organized crime group”.
It is stated that the ‘Ndrangheta has become Italy’s most powerful and richest mafia over the years, thanks to its control of the European drug trade. It is stated that the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta, where Italian security forces have intensified their operations in recent years, has a more indecipherable and complex structure than Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
In the news and comments published in the press, it is stated that the trial, which lasted for about 3 years in Lamezia Terme and ended with today’s verdict hearing, dealt a blow to the organization of ‘Ndrangheta locally and within the state.
