Some 355 accused still need to be tried, the procedure is scheduled for two years or more. Investigations took several years and culminated with raids carried out in December 2019.
Le Monde with AFP
It is only one step in this non-standard trial that is exceeded only by that organized in Palermo in 1986-1987 against Cosa Nostra Sicilian. Italian justice sentenced, on Saturday, November 6, 70 members of ‘Ndrangheta and other people with links with her, wearing a blow to the’ Ndrangheta, the most powerful Mafie group in Italy.
Judge Claudio Paris read the verdicts rendered at 91 accused in the immense courtroom of the city of Lamezia Terme, in Calabria, where a “maxi-trial” had been held, since January, That of hundreds of presumed members and collaborators of the organized crime union ‘Ndrangheta. The 91 people who have just been sentenced had opted for a rapid trial, in camera, which allowed them, in case of conviction, to see their trouble amputated from a third party.
up to 20 years in prison
The famous Prosecutor Antimafia Nicola Scratteri – That his efforts to overcome the ‘Ndrangheta have forced to live under police protection for more than thirty years – said everything had “very well” last Saturday. “On 91 accused, 70 presumed innocent people were sentenced,” he told the Adnkronos Italian news agency, adding that people who were acquitted were minor actors. Some have been inflicted the maximum penalty of 20 years required by prosecutors.
These include Domenico Macri, the Group’s military branch, from Pasquale Gallone, the right arm of the presumed chef of the Mafia Luigi Mancuso, whose trial is still in progress, and Gregorio Niglia, who had , in particular, for the role of getting weapons and engage in extortions. About one-third of this group was sentenced to sentences of ten years or more and 21 people have been paid, “said M. Gratteri.
Of the eight for which the Prosecution had required 20 years in prison, six received the totality of this sentence, including Pasquale Gallone, 62, who helped orchestrate the three years of caval of his boss from 2014 , while, for two years, Luigi Mancuso had come out of prison, where he had spent nineteen years.
The main accused, however, opted for a normal trial, namely Luigi Mancuso “The Uncle”, 67, considered the head of the families of ‘Ndrangheta who dominated the province of Vibo Valentia in Calabria, and the Ex-senator and lawyer Giancarlo Pittelli, 68 years old.
More than 350 accused to be judged
Some 355 accused still need to be tried, the procedure is scheduled for two years or more. Investigations took several years and culminated with raids carried out in December 2019.
The ‘ndrangheta, based in Calabria, the poorest region of Italy, controls most of the cocaine flow that enters Europe. This network of about 150 families competing for positions within the organization has at least 6,000 members and affiliates in Calabria and thousands of others support it around the world, according to experts.
Although it now acts at the international level and that its gains are reinvested in the legal economy, the capacity of ‘Ndrangheta to infiltrate almost all segments of the public administration in Calabria allowed him to obtain lucrative contracts and to consolidate its power.
The defendants sentenced on Saturday had to answer mafiaous association, attempted murder, money laundering, drug trafficking, extortion and illegal possession of weapons.
The Maxi-Trial takes place in a huge courtroom capable of hosting hundreds of lawyers defending their customers and the more than 900 charges and the 58 discharge controls. The legendary maxi-trial of 1986-1987 had, for its part, worn a blow to Cosa Nostra Sicilian, with 338 convictions.