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320 defendants, 913 witnesses: Italy's great mafia trial

In one of the largest cases ever committed against organized crime in the country, the heads of the Calenderia-based crime gang Nedrangata and their accomplices will stand trial.

They are accused of murder, extortion and drug trafficking, and authorities hope to break down Nderangta as they did with Cosa Nostra

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Reuters

Wednesday, January 13, 2021, 13:56

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In the video: The big mafia trial since 1980 began in Italy (Photo: Reuters)

One of the largest mafia trials ever in Italy kicked off today (Wednesday) with more than 320 mobsters and their accomplices being prosecuted for a variety of offenses, including murder, extortion, drug trafficking and theft.

The trial focuses on members of the Caldera-based criminal organization Nedrangeta, at the tip of Italy's boot.

The organization is defined by the prosecution as the most powerful criminal organization in the country, far more so than the more famous Cosa Nostra of Sicily.

The trial was held at a call center, which was converted into a courtroom in the city of Lamia Terme in Calabria.

The defendants are placed in metal cages, and in the hall are slices of rows of desks set up for the hundreds of lawyers, prosecutors, journalists and spectators expected to attend the trial.

Many of the defendants are white-collar workers, including lawyers, accountants, businessmen, local politicians and police officers.

The chief prosecutor in the case, Nicola Gartry, said they voluntarily assisted Landrangetta in building her crime empire.

Speaking to reporters at the entrance to the courthouse, Gertry said the investigation encouraged locals to tell about what happened.

"In the last two years we have seen a spike in lawsuits from oppressed entrepreneurs and citizens, interest victims, people who have lived for years under the threat of Nderangta," said the prosecutor, who has fought in the mafia for the past 30 years.

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Heavy security.

The cages of the defendants in the trial (Photo: GettyImages) (Photo: GettyImages)

The state will schedule 913 witnesses and describe 24,000 hours of conversations intercepted by investigators to back up the thick-bellied case.

Gertry said he expects the trial to last a year, and the court is expected to hear the case six days a week.

Another 92 suspects have opted for a speedy trial in this case, and hearings on them will begin later this month.

A smaller group of defendants will stand trial in February for five murders - including one of the Mafia assassins.

According to the prosecution, he was murdered because he was gay.

"There is still a very long way to go."

The courtroom, today (Photo: Reuters)

The last time Italy prosecuted hundreds of Mafia men at the same time was in Palermo in 1986. The case was a turning point in the struggle against Cosa Nostra, after which its decline began.

That sentence had a huge impact as it focused on many families.

The trial, which opens today in Calabria, focuses mainly on one group, the Mancoso tribe from the province of Vivo and Lantia, so that many of the senior leadership of 'Nedrangata' were left unharmed.

"There is still a very long way to go, but we must not give up because there are thousands of people who believe in us. We can not disappoint them," Gertry told Reuters.

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