Historical.
This Wednesday began the trial of 355 alleged members of the 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful Italian mafia, established in Calabria.
For a year, 900 witnesses and 400 lawyers will parade in a call center specially fitted out as a court for the occasion.
This extraordinary trial, the most important for 30 years, is unprecedented in the face of this formidable criminal organization where omerta usually reigns.
We explain why.
What is the 'Ndrangheta Mafia?
This mafia organization specializing in drug trafficking is located in the poorest region of Italy, Calabria.
To join the clan, you must be the son or cousin of a mobster, or marry the daughter of one of the members.
A rule supposed to guarantee the law of silence.
In Calabria, authorities estimate that at least 150 families and 6,000 members and associates belong to this clan.
But thousands of other members are also said to be installed around the world, notably in South America and New York.
One of them was even arrested in Brittany in September 2019.
Originally an expert in extortion and kidnappings for ransom, the mafia organization launched into cocaine trafficking in the 1970s. It used one of the largest container ports in the Mediterranean. , that of Gioia Tauro, to make transit his goods illegally.
Once overshadowed by the famous Cosa Nostra and Camorra, the Mafia organization has become the largest in the country.
Its annual turnover is estimated at 50 billion euros, according to the main prosecutor of the trial, Nicolas Gratteri.
Its members are indicted for drug trafficking, but also for murder - one of the members was murdered by his cousin for homosexuality, money laundering and mafia association.
All-powerful in the region, the mafia has infiltrated many spheres of public life in Calabria, from town halls to hospitals and courts.
Why is this trial unique?
Fabrice Rizzoli, doctor in political science and teacher in geopolitics of organized crime, underlines that beyond the "unprecedented number of accused" in a region which "was not used to seeing a lot of anti-Mafia investigations ", Justice" attacks complicity and does not stop with the Mafiosi who sell drugs. "
Indeed, local elected officials, officials and police will also parade at the bar.
However, "there are few trials that include politicians, entrepreneurs, lawyers, municipal police chiefs ...", analyzes the teacher.
On the other hand, during this case, 58 prosecution witnesses agreed to break the omerta to reveal the secrets of the clan and its associates.
This is unprecedented, because the 'Ndrangheta was built on the ties of blood and ruthlessly punishes the "repentants" who break this law of silence.
“Over the past few years, we've gained a lot of credibility, a lot of trust.
People have started to cooperate, they are supporting us, they are starting to believe in us, ”says prosecutor Gratteri.
Have trials of this magnitude ever existed?
The size of this trial is due, according to the prosecution, to the close interweaving of many cases.
The courtroom scheduled to receive a thousand people is specially equipped with cells for the accused, although many will participate by video conference because of the pandemic.
But this is not the first such trial in the country.
In Italy, several "maxi-trials" have already been organized to try Mafia crimes.
Only one of them has exceeded, in its proportions, the current 'Ndrangheta trial.
This is the 1986-1987 maxi-trial held in Palermo against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.
At the end of this, 338 defendants were convicted, dealing a major blow to the Sicilian organization.
But in 1992, judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who had convicted the members of the Cosa Nostra, were murdered with their bodyguards, in retaliation.
Why did prosecutor Gratteri become famous?
Since 2016, prosecutor Nicola Gratteri has worked tirelessly to collect evidence that could convict members of the 'Ndrangheta and their accomplices.
AFP / Gianluca Chininea
Nicola Gratteri, who led the Calabrian Mafia investigation, is one of Italy's most famous anti-Mafia figures.
At 62, he has been under close police protection for three decades.
When he was appointed in May 2016, he decided to tackle the formidable mafia organization, which he knows well.
The prosecutor thus grew up in Calabria, from where the 'Ndrangheta extended its influence to all regions of the world.
“When I was a child, I used to go to school with the children of the mafia bosses,” he says.
“The children I played with became mafia and then drug traffickers.
This is why I know the criminal philosophy well, the way of thinking of the members of the 'Ndrangheta, and that helps me in my work ”.
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During his investigation, he placed hundreds of suspected members of the clan on wiretaps, and visited returnees in prison.
After three years of investigation, a hundred members were intercepted in 2019 Italy but also in Germany, Switzerland or Bulgaria.
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He also arrested magistrates, politicians and even a senator.
Faced with the large number of indictments, Nicola Gratteri has been the subject of strong criticism.
“There is a sling of politicians and journalists who believe that Gratteri is casting too wide a net.
They fear that a large number of defendants will then be released, ”explains Fabrice Rizzoli.
This is also the main argument of defense lawyers who believe that it is difficult today to ensure each accused a fair and equitable trial under these conditions.
Will this trial destroy the organization?
The stakes are high for prosecutor Gratteri.
"If the trial does not lead to many convictions, it will be considered a failure," criticizes Nicola Lo Torto, one of the defense lawyers.
We must already expect "at least a hundred releases", warns Fabrice Rizzoli.
"This is normal because it is much more difficult to convict a politician who has a very good lawyer for an offense of undermining integrity and complicity with the mafia, than a mafioso that one takes in the act with 10 tons of cocaine in a port ”, assures the specialist.
Federico Varese, professor of criminology at the University of Oxford, wants to be on his side cautious: "We can throw mafia in prison, but if we do not remove the roots at the origin of their existence, they will reproduce. quite simply.
".
Even if this trial does not overcome the organization, it represents a "step forward", assures Fabrice Rizzoli.
Hailed by the inhabitants of the region, it makes it possible to "break the silence" on years of crimes and paves the way for future legal proceedings against mafia groups.
