“Finora ho fatto solo il mio dovere di sindaco di questa città, per il bene di tutta la comunità. Legalità è un bel concetto, ma per avere il rispetto delle regole vanno trasmessi cultura, educazione e senso civico ai giovani”. A dirlo è Ilaria Abagnale, sindaca di Sant’Antonio Abate, nell’ambito dell’evento “Musica e Legalità” organizzato dall’istituto comprensivo “Mosè Mascolo” alla presenza di don Tonino Palmese.
The morning began with a march by students from the city schools of Sant'Antonio Abate, who marched from Piazza Libertà to the Natural Park, where a meeting-debate was held, included in the calendar of events for the “Month of Abatese Culture”. The event was attended by Ilaria Abagnale, mayor of Sant'Antonio Abate; Don Tonino Palmese, president of the Polis foundation; Francesco Soviero, deputy prosecutor at the Public Prosecutor's Office of Salerno; Major Carlo Venturini, commander of the Carabinieri company of Castellammare di Stabia; Pasquale Del Prete, president of Fai Antiracket Ercolano; Francesco Saverio Patrizio, headmaster of the “Mosè Mascolo” comprehensive institute, with the students who asked several questions to those present. The meeting was opened by the students who also remembered the Capaci massacre.
"Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino fought for the good of all of us - added Ilaria Abagnale - and, together with their escorts, they sacrificed their lives for the ideals of justice and legality. In certain moments, when you fight against something bigger, you find the courage to say "I'm not in" and you move forward. Afterwards, fear can take over, but fortunately the State is there and in Sant'Antonio Abate we had proof of this".
"Mafias - Don Tonino Palmese recalled - are born where there is a lack of culture, where there are those who feed that way of living and that way of being. If at 17 a boy is already in prison and defines himself as "career-minded" there are more complex causes and responsibilities behind it. There are many "I have nothing to see" said: by the family, by the school, by social services, by the church itself, by politics. Many say "I have nothing to see", in the meantime the doors of prison have opened for that boy".
“Here in these territories life is bad because there is a subculture that develops violence and oppression – is the idea of the magistrate Francesco Soviero – and the closest example is that of Sant'Anastasia, where two kids in ten minutes get weapons and shoot in the square, also wounding a little girl. It all starts with the kids and important work must be done on them”.
Pasquale Del Prete, instead, gave the example of the “Ercolano model” that fought racketeering and brought the Ercolano clans to their knees: “The Camorra is strong because it acts in a group. So, we entrepreneurs and traders fought it with the same weapon, simply by joining together in a group and reporting all together and united. That model is based on trust in others, in the police, in the judiciary, a team effort that still bears fruit today. The flame that lights hope is only one: reporting”.
Article published on May 26, 2023 - 09:24 pm
