200 mafia members convicted in Italy - get a total of 2,200 years in prison
Over 200 people linked to the 'Ndranghetan mafia organization have been sentenced to a total of over 2,200 years in prison. Sky News reports.
Saverio Razionale and Domenico Bonavota, leaders of the San Gregorio and Sant'Onofrio clans respectively, are both sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The trial has been going on for three years and many of the suspects have connections to Italy's highest social class. Giancarlo Pitelli, former Member of Parliament for Forza Italia, is sentenced to 11 years in prison. Several high-ranking police officers are also sentenced, but to lower sentences than what the prosecutors were aiming for.
The crime syndicate, originally based in the Calabria region of southern Italy, now reportedly has a monopoly on the import of cocaine into Europe.
The trial - the most extensive to date against the 'Ndranghetan - has been held in a specially constructed bunker in an industrial area, so that all those involved can be present.
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Society would be horrified – dead dolphins at the door
The Italian mafia organization 'Ndranghetan used advanced methods to intimidate the public into silence. AFP reports how dead puppies and dolphins have been dumped outside the doors of those who tried to fight the organization.
Despite this, several 'Ndrangheta members chose to cooperate with the authorities during the major trial against over 320 suspected mafia members.
The news agency reports how the organization acquired a monopoly on cocaine imports into Europe and a firm grip over the entire local economy in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
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The prosecutor: "Don't do anything if I'm murdered tomorrow - I've lived like a man"
The huge trial against over 300 suspected members of the 'Ndranghetan represents a heavy blow to the mafia organization. This is stated by SVT's Italy correspondent Jennifer Wegerup in SR's P1-Morgon.
- It is about constantly showing that the fight against organized crime continues. That the state is there. [...] It is a constant struggle to show that one does not give up.
The responsible prosecutor Nicola Gratteri has been living under police protection for 34 years. When Sky News interviewed him last summer, he said it wouldn't be a problem if he was murdered "tomorrow".
- To live a hundred years as a coward is pointless. I have lived like a man, he told the news channel.
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