Gioa Tauro, 22 Dec. (AKI) – Two customs officials at the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro were among 27 mafia suspects arrested in several regions on Tuesday

The arrests were part of an operation targeting a racket involving millions of euros of undeclared pirated goods imported from China, according to police. An arrest warrant was issued for a 28th suspect believed to be abroad.

ANSA) – Rome, October 19 – Reports that negotiations existed between the State and the Mafia in 1992 continued to spark political polemics in Italy on Monday. 

The negotiations apparently started in the weeks between the murders of anti-mafia crusading judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were killed by bombs set by Cosa Nostra in Sicily

A set of faded posters on a wall in Monreale, Sicily. The posters are advertising an anti-mafia torchlight procession against the abolition of life sentences in Sicily…or so my pigeon Italian and babelfish tell me. There were many anti-mafia posters like this all over Sicily.

Roberto Saviano

Italian anti-Mafia writer Roberto Saviano is among the ten candidates for this year’s Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, awarded by the European Parliament 

Saviano is under permanent police protection in Italy because he wrote that the Camorra has murdered more than ETA, the IRA, Russian and Albanian organised crime rings and Italy’s Red Brigades put together.

The bullets came in a nondescript package: 123 of them and a letter. “We are from neither the Left, nor the Right, nor the Centre,” said the jagged handwriting. “Remember bullets don’t have parliamentary immunity. That is not a threat — it’s a promise.”

Marcello Dell`Utri

Mafia boss Stefano Bontade

ANSA) – Rome, September 25 – Vittorio Mangano, a  middle-ranking Mafia boss who once worked as stable manager at Premier Silvio Berlusconi`s Arcore estate outside Milan was hired to “protect“ him, a Palermo prosecutor said on Friday

Rome, 7 Sept. (AKI) – While the Italian mafia is often linked to southern regions like Sicily and Calabria, organised crime appears to be exploiting new opportunities in Rome. A report by the anti-mafia group Centro Pio La Torre said that assets totalling one billion euros were seized by police in the Italian capital in 2008.

“The capital occupying one of the top spots can come as a shock, but that is a symptom of the consolidated transnational investments of the criminal mafia,” said the president of the Centro Pio La Torre, Vito Monaco.

Rome was second only to the Sicilian capital, Palermo, in the total assets seized in police raids in the past year.

More than 14,973 assets were seized in Palermo while more than 11,648 assets were confiscated in Rome.

The southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria was third with 5,248 assets seized by police.

In July police seized the renowned Cafe de Paris on the Via Veneto when it targeted more than 200 million euros of property allegedly owned by the Calabrian mafia, or ‘ndrangheta.

Several cafes and restaurants, businesses and luxury cars were targeted by investigators.

Anti-mafia prosecutors have said mobsters are investing in property in high-rent Rome neighbourhoods.

The Italian government has vowed to defeat the mafia and this year has seen hundreds of arrests including several mafia bosses and the seizure of millions of euros of suspected mafia assets.

Italy’s four main criminal organisations are the Sicilian mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, the ‘Ndrangheta in the southern region of Calabria, while Puglia is known for the Sacra Corona Unita.

Thanks   adnkronos

Paolo De Stefano

Police say they arrested a fugitive mobster while he was vacationing with his family at the Sicilian seaside.

Paolo Borsellino

My brother’s death was a State murder.” There’s no room for misunderstanding in Salvatore Borsellino’s words: seventeen years ago, on July 19^th 1992, anti-Mafia Judge Paolo Borsellino was killed in a car-bomb attack in Via D’Amelio, in Palermo, Sicily, outside his mother’s house.

Two months before Paolo Borsellino’s death, his friend and colleague in the struggle against organized crime, Judge Giovanni Falcone was murdered in a bomb explosion in Capaci, the highway to Palermo. In the attack died also Falcone’s wife, Francesca Morvillo, and their bodyguards, Antonio Montinaro, Rocco Di Cillo and Vito Schifani.

Seventeen years later, those massacres are still shrouded in mystery and Salvatore Borsellino points the finger to the Parliament for not wanting to shed light on his brother’s death. Giovanni Falcone died on May 23^rd 1992 and Paolo Borsellino, seemingly very close in finding the mastermind, knew he was next: “The load of TNT for me has already arrived in Palermo,” he started to say a week before his own death.

During the demonstration organized this year for the commemoration of Borsellino’s death, Italian MP Franco Barbato was very outspoken over the role of some political leaders and their collusion with the organized crime, accusing the vice-president of the CSM (Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, the independent executive body of the judiciary system), Nicola Mancino of protecting the interests of the Mafia by blocking the course of justice.

Tellingly, a few days prior the commemoration in Palermo, Salvatore Riina, former boss of the Sicilian clan of Cosa Nostra, jailed since 1993 also for the murder of Giovanni Falcone, after sixteen years broke his long silence and accused the institutions of Borsellino’s killing. At this regard, Gioacchino Genchi, police superintendent at the time of the attacks and afterwards appointed technical consultant in Caltanissetta in the trial for Borsellino’s murder, has commented that Riina’s words only confirm what investigations were already proving, namely “the role of the institutions in the 1992 slaughters aimed at changing Italy’s destiny

With him, five of his six bodyguards lost their lives, Emanuela Loi, Agostino Catalano, Walter Cusina, Claudio Traina e Vincenzo Limuli. Antonino Vullo is the only police officer that survived. Since then, Salvatore Borsellino has tirelessly denounced the negotiations between the Italian State and the Mafia and the fact that his brother was killed because he had found strong evidence of the collusion between the Mafia and the national political class.

With the end of the Cold War the Mafia, having built its illegal business taking advantage of the instability of the bipolar system, started to fall apart over three fronts: the end of its monopoly in the drug trafficking, the end of the international unconcern over its illegal activities and the beginning of the end of the Corleonesi, the bloodiest and most violent clan of the Sicilian mob

READ MORE BY ANGELA CORRIAS

Guests are seen inside the Cafe’ de Paris, in Rome’s Via Veneto, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Italian authorities have seized some €200 million ($284 million) in assets and businesses owned by the ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate, including the Cafe de Paris of “La Dolce Vita” movie fame. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (Alessandra Tarantino, AP / July 22, 2009)

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities on Wednesday seized about €200 million ($284 million) in assets and businesses owned by a crime syndicate, including the Cafe de Paris of “La Dolce Vita” movie fame.

Rome police and anti-mafia officials said that 12 other restaurants, apartments and luxury cars allegedly linked to the ‘ndrangheta were also impounded in the operation.

The Cafe de Paris, which became a symbol of La Dolce Vita, or “the sweet life,” in the 1960s remains open, Rome police official Daniele Galimberti said.

Galimberti said the establishment was briefly shut early Wednesday, but only to allow police to search it.

“We wanted to check how much money there was in the cash register and seize the account books,” Galimberti said, adding that authorities have appointed a manager to let the cafe stay open for the time being.

“It’s important to guarantee its activity for all those chefs, waiters and other personnel who are working there,” he said.

The restaurant, with a covered outdoor area, is located on Rome’s upscale Via Veneto, the setting of glitzy nights that were immortalized by Federico Fellini’s 1960 movie.

The cafe — a famed haunt of movie stars, directors and hopeful ingenues in the 1950s — is a few steps from the U.S. Embassy compound. Palestinian militants wounded 38 people in a grenade attack on the cafe in 1985.

Galimberti said a court hearing will be scheduled within 30 days to decide on how long the cafe will remain open.

He said the establishment belonged to a former hairdresser from the southern region of Calabria who is suspected of having ties to reputed ‘ndrangheta (pronounced AN-dran-getta) local boss Vincenzo Alvaro.

Anti-mafia prosecutors say mobsters are snapping up real estate in high-rent Rome neighborhoods.

The ‘ndrangheta, based in Calabria, has eclipsed other mob organizations in power and reach.

Prosecutors have said mob groups are increasingly investing profits from the drug trade and other illicit activities in legitimate businesses and property, including restaurants, stores and hotels, in northern Italy and abroad.    thanks  Daily Press

Reggio Calabria, 21 July (AKI) – Anti-mafia police in the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria on Tuesday seized 50 million euros of assets belonging to 74-year-old Calabrian businessman and mafia suspect, Alfredo Ionetti. The assets include companies, bank accounts and other property.

Police arrested Ionetti in March 2006 along with 33 people. He is suspected of association with the Calabrian mafia or ‘Ndrangheta and extortion. He was released July 2008 but has been under special police surveillance for the past three years.

Investigators said the extortion racket included forcing numerous small and medium-sized firms to pay ‘protection money’ and hefty commissions on public works contracts. The racket also included coercing firms to supply building materials and give ‘recommended’ invididuals jobs. Methods of intimidation included theats and bombings, investigators said.

The ‘Ndrangheta is one of Italy’s organized criminal organizations located in the toe of the Italian boot, Calabria. Much of its funding comes from drug trafficking, but also from apparently legal business such as construction, supermarkets, bars and restaurants. The ‘Ndrangheta’s annual income was in 2007 estimated to be around 35 to 40 billion euros – 3.5 percent of Italy’s GDP.

The Italian government has vowed to defeat the mafia and this year police have arrested over 100 suspects including a number of alleged mafia bosses and have seized tens of millions of euros of alleged mafia assets.
thanks Security

Lo Piccolo Mafia – Calogero Lo Piccolo

(ANSA) – Palermo, July 17 – A Palermo judge has handed out
jail sentences totalling almost 400 years in a landmark trial
against members of the Lo Piccolo Mafia clan but also
businessmen who went along with demands for protection money.
Four businessmen received prison sentences of six months
for aiding and abetting clan members after they failed to
admit to paying the so-called `pizzo`.

 
A fifth man, disco owner Gaspare Messina, was sentenced
to 16 months for giving false testimony

Italian Mafia expert Laura Garavini

Berlin  – Italian Mafia expert Laura Garavini welcomed Monday moves by Germany to crack down on money laundering.

It’s not a good day for the Mafia,” said Garavini, a German-based member of the anti-Mafia Commission in the Italian parliament

Naples and Gela, 2 July (AKI) – Police on Thursday moved to arrest over 40 mafia suspects in the Naples area and in the Sicilian port city of Gela. Anti-mafia magistrates in Naples have issued arrest warrants for some 15 suspects suspected of numerous murders. The killings were committed during a turf war between local crime families in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The arrest of the 15 Naples mafia or Camorra suspects came as part of the ‘Spartacus End’ investigation of seven murders allegedly committed between 1988 and 1991 amid a deadly power struggle after the death of Camorra boss Antonio Bardellino.

Around 800 people were arrested during the ‘Spartacus’ probe, many of whom were jailed in a maxi-trial held in Santa Maria Capua Vetere north of Naples from July 1998 to June 2008, at which some 500 witnesses testified.

Sixteen Camorra members were given life sentences during the trial.

The 12 suspects arrested on Thursday in Gela are accused of mafia association and threats to force business people in the city to pay ‘protection money’, hire workers and purchase goods from certain suppliers, investigators said.

All the suspects belong to the local Emmanuello crime family, investigators allege. Police also seized two building firms which allegedly belonged to the family during the anti-mafia operation dubbed ‘Cerberus’.

Police on Thursday in the northern city of Milan moved to arrest 11 people suspected of mafia association and drugs trafficking in the city and surrounding Lombardy region. The suspects have links to the Gela-based Stidda crime family, according to investigators.

Also on Thursday, Italian police arrested a suspected boss of the Calabrian mafia or ‘Ndrangheta, Leone Soriano. Investigators gave no further details on the operation or the charges against Soriano but his arrest followed the arrests of 60 ‘Ndrangheta suspects over the past week and the seizure of 10 million euros of suspected ‘Ndrangheta assets.

The Italian government has vowed to defeat the mafia and this year has seen hundreds of arrests including several mafia bosses and the seizure of millions of euros of suspected mafia assets
thanks

Une rencontre au plus haut niveau ”qui n’a jamais eu lieu”: le ministre de l’Intérieur Nicola Mancino convoque Paolo Borsellino au ”Viminale”. Le juge antimafia en ressort furibond, hors de lui. Il meurt assassiné 18 jours plus tard.

Paolo Borsellino (Palerme: 19.01.1940 - 19.07.1992)

Le 1er juillet 1992, Nicola Mancino devient ministre de l’Intérieur. Le jour-même il appelle personnellement Paolo Borsellino. Il lui donne  rendez-vous à 19h00 au ”Viminale”, palais de son ministère à Rome. Le juge antimafia est dans la capitale. Il interrompt l’interrogatoire du repenti Gaspare Mutolo et s’y rend.

Depuis plusieurs mois la colère de la Mafia s’est abattue sur le monde politique qui ne la couvre plus, ou pas assez. Elle a toléré le maxi-procès de Palerme en 1986-1987 (360 condamnations pour 474 inculpés dont 119 en fuite: au total  2665 années de prison) car certaine de voir libérés ses gens à court ou moyen terme -ce que fit consciencieusement le  travail de Cassation du juge ”tueur de sentences” Corrado Carnevale. Mais la reprise en main des dossiers par Borsellino et  Falcone à l’aube de l’année 1992 bouleverse Cosa Nostra: rien ne va plus. Les sentences sont appliquées et ses hommes sont retournés derrière les  barreaux.

La réaction de l’organisation est claire, violente et hautement symbolique. la première victime de ”choc” est l’homme de  liaison entre l’Etat et Cosa Nostra: Salvatore ‘Salvo’ Lima, député DC et ex-maire de Palerme (lui succéda le ”parrain politique” Vito Ciancimino). Lima le ”vice-roi” d’Andreotti dont il partage les  convictions à la leadership de la Democrazia Cristiana est abattu le 12 mars 1992 à Palerme par des ”killers” de Cosa Nostra.

Puis les héros du pool antimafia. Pour commencer, le juge Giovanni Falcone est assassiné le 23 mai 1992: 5 tonnes  d’explosif pour lui, sa femme, ses 3 gardes du corps. Un trou béant, vite comblé sur l’autoroute où l’enfer se déchaina, mais  jamais au Parquet italien: le massacre de Capaci.

Le 1er juillet, Nicola Mancino a été nommé à l’Intérieur. Vraisemblablement pour traiter avec Cosa Nostra. L’histoire semble indiquer que c’est la seule hypothèse valable au déplacement de Vincenzo Scotti (jusque là à l’Intérieur) aux Affaires Etrangères: un ”papello” -ou contrat en négociation, proposition de traité- a été  livré par Cosa Nostra au gouvernement, dictant les conditions de l’organisation mafieuse aux politiques.

Basta avec l’antimafia. Ce fut  vraisemblablement le sujet de l’entretien provoqué par Mancino avec Borsellino, vraisemblablement toujours associé à la  volonté de freiner le pool antimafia, le démanteler, ou le faire taire définitivement. Paolo Borsellino retourne ensuite à son  interrogatoire, visiblement hors de lui. Il note l’existence de cet entretien dans son agenda gris, où sont reportés les rendez-vous effectués. On dit que la sentence de Cosa Nostra sur la vie de Borsellino était alors déjà prononcée. On pense que l’issu du rendez-vous en accéléra l’application.

L'agenda gris de Paolo Borsellino reportant trace du rendez-vous avec Nicola Mancino: 1er juillet 1992, 19h-20h

Paolo Borsellino sait qu’il va mourir. Il dit que quand cela arrivera, c’est la Mafia qui l’aura voulu sans en être l’exécutant. Il  a commencé à se détacher de ses enfants. Il croit pouvoir ainsi diminuer leur future douleur.

L’une de ses dernières interviews a lieu le 19 mai 1992, 4 jours avant le massacre de Capaci. Elle est réservée à des français, Jean-Pierre Moscardo et Fabrizio Calvi -pseudonyme de Jean-Claude Zagdoun-. Il y cite Silvio Berlusconi, Marcello  Dell’Utri et un certain Vittorio Mangano, homme d’honneur de Cosa Nostra qui a travaillé 2 ans chez Berlusconi dans sa villa  d’Arcore (Milan) comme ”palefrenier” et ”administrateur”: il y habite meme, de 1973 à 1976, dans cette casa Fininvest [1]. Vittorio Mangano est un homme d’honneur de Cosa Nostra [2]. Borsellino ne peut en dire plus car une enquête a été ouverte à ce sujet, et pas par lui, précise-t-il.

Le 19 juillet 1992, Paolo Borsellino est assassiné à Palerme, alors qu’il sonne à l’appartement de sa mère. C’est le massacre de ”Via  D’Amelio”. Le corps de Borsellino est taillé en 2 par la puissance dévastatrice de l’explosion. Également tués 4 hommes et une femme composant son escorte. Peu après  ”on  marche partout sur des restes humains”. Au milieu du chaos de l’attentat à peine perpétré, un capitaine des carabiniers marche sur ces restes et prélève la mallette contenant le petit agenda rouge du juge, puis la remet en  place. L’agenda a disparu. Il détient les secrets des enquêtes du pool antimafia. Il n’a jamais réapparu.

Palerme, 19.07.1992: Giovanni Arcangioli, capitaine de carabiniers, prélève la mallette du juge Borsellino. On ne retrouvera jamais l'agenda rouge qui y était contenu.

Le  détonateur de l’explosion a vraisemblablement été actionné d’un lieu contrôlé -et très actif ce jour-là- par les services secrets italiens (SISDE): le château d’Utveggio offrait un point de vue panoramique parfait pour perpétrer un attentat dont la puissance de l’explosion aurait pulvérisé ses hommes de main et rendu incertain le ”résultat” s’ils n’avaient pu en bénéficier.

”Tout est fini. E’ finito tutto. Ne me faites rien dire de plus” (Antonino Caponnetto, magistrat responsable du pool antimafia, à Palerme, via d’Amelio, 19 juillet 1992)

Interview de Nicola Mancino: ''Je ne connaissais pas Paolo Borsellino ''physiquement'', peut-être était-il venu pour me serrer la main, je ne m'en souviens pas, je ne me souviens pas de ce rendez-vous qui n'apparait pas dans mon agenda'' dit-il en substance depuis près de 20 ans.

Nicola Mancino, ayant rejoint la Margherita (centre gauche) après la mort de la Democrazia Cristiana, fut nommé par la suite président du Sénat  (1996-2001) sous Prodi après la victoire de l’Ulivo. Il est aujourd’hui vice-président du CSM, Conseil Supérieur de la  Magistrature.

Le ”tueur de sentences” Corrado Carnevale a été réintégré à la Cassation en 2007 après avoir été condamné -puis blanchi- pour association mafieuse. Il serait en route, selon des indiscrétions, pour reprendre la présidence de la Cour Suprême de la  Cassation italienne dont ”on” aimerait amplifier le pouvoir à travers une refonte totale de la Justice.

Marcello Dell’Utri fut entre autres le créateur du parti politique berlusconien ”Forza  Italia” en 1994 [3], fer de lance de toutes les batailles politiques du Cavaliere depuis sa création. Beaucoup d’enquêtes (et encore un procès en cours à Palerme) font penser que Marcello Dell’Utri serait  l’homme de liaison entre la politique italienne et Cosa Nostra, au nord ou dans son ensemble [3]. Il est sénateur .

Silvio Berlusconi est aujourd’hui président du Conseil, pour la 4ème  fois depuis 1994.

Giulio Andreotti est sénateur à vie.

Nicola Mancino ne souvient pas d’avoir rencontré Paolo Borsellino le 1er juillet 1992.

AeC

[1] Fininvest EST l’empire Berlusconi. L’histoire du père du Cavaliere est aussi à citer ici: de ‘’simple salarié” jusqu’à en devenir le directeur général, Luigi Berlusconi a travaillé toute sa vie durant à la Banque Rasini de Milan: la banque ”blanchisseuse” au nord pour Cosa Nostra. Elle avait  parmi ses client Totò Riina, alors chef de Cosa Nostra, ainsi que son futur successeur Bernardo Provenzano. Et son fils Silvio dont on n’a  jamais su d’où provient l’argent lui ayant permis de se lancer et de créer Fininvest (holding financière active depuis 1961 et créée ”formellement” en 1978)

[2] Mangano, condamné plus tard à la prison à vie pour homicides (entre autres) a été défini ”un héros à sa manière” par Marcello Dell’Utri pour ne pas avoir collaboré avec la justice (”contre” Berlusconi). Cette appréciation a été partagée par Silvio Berlusconi.

[3] ”En 2004, Dell’Utri fut condamné à 9 ans de prison pour concours externe en association mafieuse. Selon la sentence le parti ”Forza Italia” aurait été fondé pour fournir des liens politiques à la Mafia et Dell’Utri aurait été l’intermédiaire entre Cosa Nostra et Silvio Berlusconi depuis 1974. Le procès d’appel est encore en cours” (traduction Aec deSilvio Berlusconi” in Wikipedia Italia) ”

Lire également sur blog:

• Quand la justice italienne est un dîner berlusconien: le retour du juge ”tue-sentences”
• ”Un pacte entre Berlusconi et la Mafia?” (Valérie Gas)
• Bon anniversaire Giovanni Falcone

En savoir plus:

• [fr] Via D’Amelio, Palerme, 19 juillet 1992
• [fr] Les mystères de Via d’Amelio
• [fr] ”Mafia, Justice et Politique en Italie” de Jean-Louis Trichet (Google book)
  
• [it] La dernière interview de Borsellino
• [it] www.19luglio1992.com

Quand Silvio Berlusconi invite la justice à dîner chez un ami, l’immunité se décide à table. Au menu et représentée, la cour constitutionnelle qui devra bientôt se prononcer sur la validité du lodo Alfano, créé ad-hoc pour assurer l’impunité au Cavaliere, notamment dans le cadre de l’affaire Mills qui a reconnu le corrupteur sans pouvoir le condamner: lui. Mais aussi la main mise sur la Cassation. On y prépare le retour du doyen Corrado Carnevale (”Carnaval”, oui…), surnommé le juge ”tue-sentences” pour son consciencieux travail anti-antimafia et qui fut lui-même condamné à 6 ans de prison en 1993 pour association mafieuse, il y a exactement 8 ans aujourd’hui. Puis relaxé par la Cassation en 2002 et réintégré par l’anti-Etat italien: l’anti-antimafia.

”Un dîner entre gens de bonne compagnie, censé rester secret, qui se déroule en mai dernier chez un juge de la Cour constitutionnelle, Luigi Mazzella, ex-ministre italien de la fonction publique sous le deuxième gouvernement Berlusconi, et réunit autour de la table un autre juge de cette même Cour, Paolo Maria Napolitano, ancien chef de cabinet de Gianfranco Fini durant le deuxième gouvernement Berlusconi et membre du Conseil d’Etat ; l’actuel ministre de la Justice, Angiolino Alfano; le sous-secrétaire à la présidence du Conseil, Gianni Letta ; le président de la commission des Affaires constitutionnelles du Sénat, Carlo Vizzini, et enfin le président du Conseil des ministres en personne, Silvio Berlusconi.” (Jean-Marie Le Ray, Adscriptor in ”Berlusconi: Assaut final à la justice” 28.06.2009)

”l’ammazza-sentenze”

Corrado Carnevale, le juge ''tue-sentences'' (web DR)

Si Angelino Alfano, ministre de la Justice italienne a assuré  l’impunité au Cavaliere (en signant un papier qu’il n’avait peut-être pas rédigé lui-même dit-on…), Corrado Carnevale assura lui ce qui ressemble à une impunité permanente à la Mafia. Ce n’est pas pour rien qu’on le surnomma ”le juge tue-sentences” (l’ammazza-sentenze): en tant que président de la 1ère section de la Cour Suprême de la Cassation, c’est à dire la plus haute instance de la justice italienne, il avait tout pouvoir pour ”casser” les sentences, ce  qu’il fit systématiquement en faveur des mafieux”.

Pour illustrer cette invraisemblable supputation, on doit parler de Carnevale lui-même qui fut inculpé pour… association mafieuse en 1993 et condamné par la Cour d’Appel de Palerme le 29 juin 2001 -il y a exactement 8 ans aujourd’hui- à 6 ans de prison et l’interdiction d’exercer sa profession. Bon anniversaire Carnaval. Il peut le fêter en riant: tout fut balayé, ”cassé” justement par la… Cassation, le 30 octobre 2002, ”faute de preuves suffisantes”.

”Carnevale à la cassation, Borsellino et Falcone au cimetière”… *

Carnevale, à travers les manigances du Cavaliere et de ses hommes pourrait  se retrouver de nouveau dans quelques mois à la tête ‘’suprême” de la Cassation. Un homme qui dit regretter d’avoir un jour promu Di Pietro (Mains propres…), et crache volontiers sur les tombes de Falcone et Borsellino, héros nationaux du pool antimafia, assassinés tous deux en 1992.

Corrado Varnevale, encore, qui né en 1930 devrait être à la retraite, mais qui bénéficie d’un bonus institutionnel grâce à, encore ici, une petite loi ad personam lui permettant, au grand bonheur des bénéficiaires, de rester en place -en récupérant  le temps ”perdu” à cause de sa condamnation!- et continuer sa brillante et fulgurante carrière dans l’anti-État. Carnevale qui refuse de croire, d’écouter, les repentis comme Buscetta qui via Falcone expliquèrent enfin ce qu’est la Mafia, prouvèrent qu’elle EXISTE. Carnevale etc.

Comment est-il possible que Corrado Carnevale soit déjà revenu à la Cassation? En 2003 le gouvernement Berlusconi fait discrètement passer un texte prévoyant la réintégration possible à la Cassation d’hommes dans sa situation (condamnés puis blanchis), et précise par un décret de loi en 2004 que cela doit être possible même si les postes ne sont pas disponibles (en cas de ‘’surnombre”). Le 30 juillet 2007, le gouvernement Prodi vote un décret empêchant la réintégration des ”plus de 75 ans” (Carnevale fêtait alors ses 74 ans…). En octobre 2008 le gouvernement  Berlusconi supprime ce décret. Entre temps, le 21 juin 2007, Corrado Carnevale a repris son ”activité judiciaire” au sein de la Cassation, président de la première section civile : il est aujourd’hui en piste pour briguer la ”grande présidence”, l’un des objets du secondo piatto de ce dîner berlusconien:

Raser au sol la justice italienne telle quelle est aujourd’hui: les hommes de la Liberté et affiliés présents projettent tout simplement ”la création d’un nouveau Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (CSM) dont fera partie, de droit, non plus le procureur général, mais le premier président de la Cour de cassation”. C’est à dire Corrado Carnevale prochainement, si le grand projet devient réalité.

Carnevale sur Giovanni Falcone: ”Un crétin indigne d’etre respecté, meme mort”.

On se demande parfois pourquoi se donner tant de mal. Le ”très sage” président de la République Giorgio Napolitano est toujours aussi calme, et Nicola Mancino [1] est aujourd’hui à la tête du CSM (vice-présidence). Nicola Mancino qui, le jour de son entrée au ministère de l’Intérieur, 1er juillet 1992, ne  se souvient pas d’avoir rencontré Paolo Borsellino. C’était 5 semaines après l’assassinat de Falcone et 3 avant celui de Borsellino. Le rendez-vous, selon certains -dont le repenti Giovanni Brusca, l’homme qui actionna le bouton tuant Falcone, sa femme et ses gardes du corps-, avait pour objet de clarifier un point important avec le juge antimafia Borsellino: tout arrêter car l’État négociait avec Cosa Nostra. Et Mancino avait été, toujours selon certains, nommé ad-hoc pour mener à bien l’accord depuis le ministère de l’Intérieur, comme se permet de supputer Salvatore Borsellino, frère du juge assassiné.

”La Constitution veut un magistrat en toge et pas en uniforme. (…) Je suis un juge et je me refuse à combattre aussi la Mafia, mon travail n’est pas de lutter” Corrado Carnevale [2].

Si cela ne suffisait pas, voici ce qu’on peut lire ce matin, 29 juin 2009, dans La Repubblica: ”Les premiers travaux de l’après séisme ont été confiés à un entrepreneur abruzzese en lien avec des prête-noms qui recyclaient, ici à Tagliacozzo, le ”trésor” de Vito Ciancimino.”

Vito Ciancimino (1924-2002): né à Corleone, ancien maire de Palerme (Democrazia Cristiana) dont il incarna la ”mise à sac”. Elément de Cosa Nostra défini par la justice comme représentant lui-même ”l’infiltration la plus explicite de la Mafia dans l’administration publique”. Ces gens que Carnevale n’a jamais voulu combattre.

Fromage et dessert. Peut-être nous expliquera-t-on sur la presse humoristique appartenant au Cavaliere (Il Giornale, Libero, CHI, Oggi…) qu’ainsi, et montrant l’exemple, le diner privé et ”constitutionnel” de Berlusconi et ses amis, ne pèsera pas sur le budget de l’État, ou anti-État… En Italie c’est la République et la Démocratie qui offrent. Et on fait carnaval toute l’année sur les sépultures des héros.

AeC

[1] Quand Wikipedia est en friche… Voici ci-dessous la  page française existante sur Nicola Mancino. Je me permets de le copier car les propos tenus y sont oh mon dieu diffamatoires et ne resteront vraisemblablement pas longtemps en ligne… la page italienne se limite à signaler que le rendez-vous avec Borsellino serait prouvé par sa trace dans l’agenda du juge assassiné, agenda où le juge assassiné reportait les rendez-vous effectués.

”Nicola Mancino est un homme politique italien qui a occupé le poste de président du sénat de la république italienne. Il fut a ce titre, président par intérim de la république italienne en 1999. Actuellement Nicola Mancino assume la direction du Conseil Superieur de la Magistrature italienne (CSM). Nicola Mancino est considéré comme le mandant de l’homicide du juge Paolo Borsellino, martyre de la Repubblique, héros des Italiens”. (Wikipedia France)

[2] La Repubblica, Wikipedia

Sources et liens:

• [fr] Berlusconi: Assaut final à la justice (Jean-Marie Le ray)
• [it] * ”Carnevale in cassazione, falcone e Borsellino al cimitero” (Marco Travaglio)
• [it] ”Il ritorno di Carnevale” Nicola Tranfaglia

[Mise à jour: 01.07.2009]
s6b5h38npx

A multi-million-dollar treasure trove of art, jewels, ant iques, real estate and luxury cars was forfeited to Italian authorities yesterday by a man named as the longtime financier of the Mafia of Montreal.

“He is part of a criminal organization, the Mafia, but he has good taste,” said a spokesman for the Italy Direzione Investigativa Antimafia.

“We took away everything he had

Beniamino Gioiello Zappia, 71, known as “Don Tito,” is currently imprisoned in Italy for gangsterism and financial crimes, after a probe by the Rome-based anti-Mafia police targeted the European operations of the Rizzuto organization, a Mafia clan based in Montreal that has already been called the “pinnacle of organized crime” in Canada by the RCMP.

Earlier this year, police found hundreds of pieces of artwork, antiques and archaeological artifacts at Zappia’s homes in Milan and in Cattolica Eraclea, the Sicilian village that is also the hometown of Vito Rizzuto, the head of the Mafia in Montreal. The material was turned over to an Italian cultural office for identification and storage

read more Adrian Humphreys

Messina Denaro

ANSA) – Trapani, June 16 – Thirteen Mafia suspects were arrested Tuesday in an operation police said had helped them close the net on fugitive kingpin Matteo Messina Denaro.

”Today’s operation is part of a strategy of capturing Messina Denaro by drying up the water he swims in,” said Palermo Chief Prosecutor Francesco Messineo.

The arrests took place in the provinces of Trapani, Palermo, Rome and Piacenza.

The 13 had been active in helping the 47-year-old Messina Denaro elude capture, police said.

Also arrested in Tuesday’s sweep, which involved 300 police, was a former finance guard, Achille Felli, who had been working as an aide to a leading former member of the Anti-Mafia Commission, Carlo Vizzini.

Vizzini, who sacked Felli after his arrest, recently stepped down after being named in a probe into the suspected misappropriation of a hoard left by Vito Ciancimino, Sicily’s first mayor to be arrested for Mafia links.

Messina Denaro, who is reportedly idolised by Cosa Nostra younger troops because of his charisma and ruthlessness, has managed to become one of the world’s top drug dealers despite being on the run for 16 years, the FBI says.

Notes found in Provenzano’s farm hideout in 2006 showed that the Trapani boss had been in constant touch with the ‘boss of bosses’.

The young boss sent more messages than any other Mafia leader to the sheepfarm outside Corleone where Provenzano, 73, was smoked out after 43 years in hiding.

In all of them he addressed the widely venerated Don in ”intimate” terms and signed off each note as ”your nephew Alessio”.

All these were signs that the Armani-clad, Ray-Ban-wearing ‘playboy’ had poked his nose in front of the older Palermo rackets king Lo Piccolo in the line of Mob succession, police said.

Denaro may look like a slick manager on the make, police say, but he sealed a reputation for brutality by murdering a rival Trapani boss and strangling his three-months pregnant girlfriend.

Some 37 inmates in 15 jails were also searched after evidence they had been sending messages to Messina Denaro, who is believed to be the Sicilian Mafia’s top boss.

The Cosa Nostra chieftain based in this western Sicilian city, who has been on the run since 1993, is believed to be expanding his criminal empire abroad and police found evidence of trips to Austria, Greece, Spain and Tunisia.

Messina Denaro is suspected of travelling under fake ID papers supplied by the Rome-based head of a showbiz security firm, Domenico Nardo.

Nardo was arrested along with the courier suspected of taking messages from Trapani to Palermo in the aftermath of the April 2006 arrest of long-time fugitive superboss Bernardo Provenzano.

Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo appeared to be vying with Messina Denaro for control of Cosa Nostra but his arrest in November 2007 has left the scene clear for the Trapani boss to take command, police say.

The 13 had been active in helping the 47-year-old Messina Denaro elude capture, police said.

thanks 

 Chicago Outfit  street boss  Tony  Spilotro and  lawyer

A member of Nevada’s list of ecluded persons better known as the Black Book, Masterana was born in Canton, Ohio Jan. 26, 1929, and moved to Las Vegas to work for “Doc” Stacher in the early 1950s.   read more 

Arrests in Naples as Italian police seek to weaken organized crime

Italian police have arrested at least 41 alleged members of a mafia-like crime ring in the southern city of Naples

Several bosses from the Sarno clan, a top local crime family, and dozens of other suspects were arrested Wednesday and charged with drug trafficking, extortion and illegal weapons possession.

The group forced businesses to pay protection money, or pizzo, and sold cocaine smuggled from Spain, according to Angelo Mazzagatti, of the Carabinieri paramilitary police.

The suspects were also accused of creating a mafia-like association.

Mazzagatti described the Sarnos as a “very invasive” clan, adding that they had exerted control in the city “not with a mafia war but with strategic alliances.”

Wednesday’s arrests are part of larger crackdown conducted over the last few months targeting the Sarno, ‘Ndrangheta, and the Amato-Pagano clans.

hf/AFP/AP  thanks rob mudge

Anti-mafia sentiment has led to demonstrations in Naples

 

The mafia may exert undue influence over the Italian wind market

Anti-Mafia magistrates in Sicily have opened a sweeping investigation into the wind power sector where local officials, entrepreneurs and crime gangs are suspected of collusion in the construction of lucrative wind farms before their eventual sale to multinational companies.

Italy grants some of the most generous subsidies for wind power in the Europe, which makes the market ripe for exploitation. Even if a wind farm isn’t in use, Italy’s national grid operator pays wind farm owners anyway.

Prosecutors suspect the hand of the Mafia in fixing permits and building wind farms that are then sold on to Italian and eventually foreign companies.

In an effort to assert its control over the sector, the Mafia is suspected of destroying two wind towers that were in storage in the port of Trapani after their delivery by ship from northern Europe, local officials told the FT.

“It is a refined system of connections to business and politicians. A handful of people control the wind sector. Many companies exist but it is the same people behind them,” said Mr Scarpinato, whose investigations have focused on the evolution of the Mafia into a modern business organisation.

evolving and finding new business opportunities, including the renewable energy sector, by exploiting its historic grip over territory, construction and ability to corrupt local officials.

Several wind farms built by companies suspected of being linked to the Mafia have not functioned for one or two years, in some cases because of shoddy construction. “This is the amazing thing, that developers got public money to build wind farms which did not produce electricity,” the prosecutor said.

thanks Jay Yarow