Incredibly, mafia boss Nino Madonia, serving 7 life sentences for murders, including those of Rocco Chinnici & Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, managed to get a handwritten threatening letter delivered to a Preliminary Investigation Judge in Palermo despite being held under strict art. 41-bis régime.
Профиль
Nicholas Whithorn
Профиль VivelyLegal Translator and University Lecturer based in Messina. Sicily, mafia, Italian justice system. Mafia Chronicles: nicholaswhithorn.substack.com
Chief Public Prosecutor in Palermo says Italian prisons are no longer controlled by the state but by organised crime groups, who are even able to arrange conference calls between inmates in different prisons and people on the outside.
Italian Civil Protection officials say they have found evidence that criminals are using cats to start deliberate wildfires. They tie cloth soaked in flammable liquid to the cats' tails, light it and release the cat in areas of tall dry grass.
Today Italian President Sergio Mattarella celebrates his 85th birthday. He entered politics to continue the legacy of his elder brother Piersanti, murdered by the mafia in Palermo in 1980. He is currently serving his second term as President, ending in February 2029.
Italian media give wide exposure to newest far-right party leader Roberto Vannacci, while he persistently uses openly fascist language & symbolism. Here he's wearing a chain with the symbol of 'Ordine Nuovo', a neo-fascist terrorist group involved in Piazza Fontana & Piazza della Loggia bombings.
21st July 1979, Boris Giuliano is killed by Leoluca Bagarella, shot in the back 7 times in the caffetteria Lux in Palermo. Head of the Flying Squad, Giuliano is noted for his innovative investigation methods and successful cooperation with US authorities in fighting the mafia [Thread] >> 1
Sunday 19th July 1992 - Sunday 19th July 2026. Paolo Borsellino "I never asked to deal with mafia cases. It happened by chance. Then I continued to do it for moral reasons. The people around me were dying."
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the via D'Amelio bomb. I still reflect on this photo of Carabinieri Captain Giovanni Arcangioli walking away from the scene, with cars still burning, carrying Borsellino's briefcase containing his red diary, which then disappears. May all those concerned rot in hell.
President Mattarella summoned Italian Justice Minister Nordio after right-wing politicians, including Nordio, proposed pardoning a jeweller convicted of shooting two men dead outside his shop after they'd robbed it. Mattarella reminded him the power to pardon lies exclusively with the President.
Lord knows how Americans will cope with a world where everyone else learns to ignore them
Italy is transferring numerous mafia bosses held under strict art.41-bis prison régime. 128 have been moved to newly opened facilities at Vigevano prison & others will be moved over next few months to new sections at 3 prisons in Sardinia. In total 741 people are currently subject to art. 41-bis.
On 14th July 1943, US troops from 1st Battalion 180th Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division commit two separate massacres of Italian and German POWs in Sicily, killing 71 in total, at the Santo Pietro airfield near the town of Biscari (now known as Acate) [Thread] >> 1
As an academic, I have decided to pre-empt AI taking my job, so I am going to take ITS job! I am going to start hallucinating, lying to my students, and drinking 700,000 litres of water
From today the Fiat Croma in which Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo were travelling on 23rd May 1992, when they were killed by a mafia bomb attack, will be permanently on display at the 'Museo del Presente ' in Palermo.
For comparison, Matteo Messina Denaro, the last 'capo di tutti i capi' of the Mafia, was asking a meagre 10% from his business associates in exchange for his 'protection' www.rainews.it/amp/tgr/sici...
Trump: "The USA will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security ... "
If you come to Palermo combine a visit to the 'Museo del Presente' dedicated to Falcone & Borsellino with one to their former offices at Palermo courthouse. Everything has been preserved as it was in 1992 (visits with guide, only in Italian, on Monday to Friday mornings. Advance booking essential).
From today the Fiat Croma in which Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo were travelling on 23rd May 1992, when they were killed by a mafia bomb attack, will be permanently on display at the 'Museo del Presente ' in Palermo.