Lon the news of the Casalesi boss's repentance, Francesco Schiavone the infamous “Sandokan” has been making the rounds on the web all over the world since this morning.
The powerful clan leader among the founders of the gang that for years polluted Campania at an environmental level and then infiltrated public administration and businesses is the second of the leaders to decide to collaborate with justice. Before him, the step had been taken the grandson for the registry office Antonio Young.
And now there remain two diehards, namely crooked head Michele Zagaria e chubby and midnight Francesco Bidognetti. Francesco Schiavone is now 70 years old and has been locked up in prison for 70 years, many of which spent in 41 bis regime. He is also ill and is in the maximum security prison of the Eagle.
His health condition may have influenced his decision, which was already anticipated by his children a few years ago. Nicola (in prison since 2010, repentant since 2018) and of Walter (collaborator of justice since 2021).
The decision to repent dates back to the beginning of this month when he asked for and obtained a meeting with the magistrates of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, and in particular with the PM Marcello Ardituro, today led by the prosecutor Giovanni Melillo.
Currently, the details of the first explanatory reports are kept secret. However, as is usual for collaborators of justice, the most serious crimes are admitted during the first meetings.
Repentance since early March: first reports classified
Schiavone's confessions may include details of his rise to leadership of the Casalesi clan and the assassination of Antonio Bardellino, killed in Brazil in 1988, a crime that allowed him to take control of the organization. camorra.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment as the main defendant in the Spartacus maxi trial, where he was accused of six murders, and is currently in prison for other definitive life sentences for at least 5 other murders.
Among Sandokan's secrets there could also be ties with politics and with the entrepreneurs of Caserta and its province and beyond and all those who have transformed the area on the border between the provinces of Naples and Caserta into the "Land of Fires".
Sandokan for his resemblance to Kabri Bedi
Francesco Schiavone, known as Sandokan for a vague resemblance to the actor Kabir Bedi, and protagonist of the successful Rai series of the seventies, was for years the undisputed leader of the powerful Casalesi clan, the criminal organization with roots in Casal di Principe, in the province of Caserta, among the most influential in Italy. After a long period of detention, which saw 26 years spent behind bars, many of them in maximum security, he chose to repent and collaborate with justice at the age of 70.
His career in crime began early, with his first arrest for possession of weapons at the age of just 18. In the 80s he joined the "New Family" of Antonio Bardellino and Mario Iovine, in contrast with the New Organized Camorra of Raffaele Cutolo. After the murder of Bardellino in 1988, Schiavone became the undisputed leader of the clan, expanding his influence in the local business and political world, with particular interest in illegal waste trafficking.
His last arrest dates back to July 11, 1998, when his time as a fugitive came to an end. He was captured inside a safe house in Casal di Principe, in the company of his two young daughters. Schiavone was involved in the maxi trial Spartacus, resulting from the investigations of the Naples District Anti-Mafia Office into the Casalesi clan, which ended with life sentences for him and other important bosses such as Francesco Bidognetti, Antonio Iovine and Michele Zagaria, the latter two fugitives at the time of the trial.
After being initially detained in Milan, was later transferred to L'Aquila. In 2018 he was diagnosed with cancer. Today, the news of his decision to collaborate with justice follows the example of his sons Nicola (in prison since 2010, repentant since 2018) and Walter (collaborator of justice since 2021), thus becoming the second Casalesi clan leader to repent after Antonio Iovine, known as “o ninno”, who began collaborating with the judges in 2014.
Libera Campania: “Face the connections with politicians and entrepreneurs”
"It is a positive sign in the fight against organized crime, not only in Caserta, but throughout the country. The Casalesi clan, it should be remembered, had clear political and business ties in various territories. A metastasis that, thanks to the work of the police, has been stopped.
My hope is that this repentance will be useful in shedding light on those very connections, as well as on the many crimes that the Casalesi clan has committed over the years. The instrument of repentance, when real, is a very important fact, especially for judicial purposes and in the fight against the Camorra, because it is thanks to the repentants that we can discover facts that otherwise would never have come to light". This was stated by the representative of Libera Campania, Mariano Di Palma.
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(in the photo what was the Casalesi summit: Francesco Schiavone, Antonio Bardellino, Antonio Iovane, Michele Zagaria and Francesco Bidognetti)
Article published by Giuseppe Del Gaudio on March 29, 2024, at 13:13 AM
Giuseppe Del Gaudio, a professional journalist since 1991. A lover of action films, sports, and South American culture. His motto: "Work is good, not working is tiring."
