A 16-year-long trial, continuous postponements and a growing feeling of impotence. Roberto Saviano, the writer who symbolizes the fight against organized crime, vented at the end of yet another postponement of the appeal hearing for the threats made against him and journalist Rosaria Capacchione during the famous Spartacus trial in 2008.
"I'm thinking of filing a lawsuit against Francesco Bidognetti. Sometimes I feel like I'm part of a charade," Saviano told reporters. The proceedings, which involve former Casalesi boss Bidognetti and his lawyer Michele Santonastaso, have been postponed once again. This time, the case is based on a medical certificate submitted by Santonastaso's new defense attorney, which attested to his client's sudden onset of renal colic.
In the first instance, the judges of the fourth criminal section of the Court of Rome had sentenced Bidognetti to one year and six months, while Santonastaso had received a sentence of one year and two months. However, the appeal process continues to suffer delays due to missing notifications and justified absences.
“A system with a mafia vocation”
Saviano has expressed harsh criticism of the Italian judicial system, denouncing its slowness, which he says ultimately favors the defendants: "Anti-mafia trials in Italy are subject to endless delays. I persevere, but it's all incredibly in the service of the defense. Italy is and remains a country with a mafia vocation, and these trials demonstrate it."
For Saviano, the problem isn't just the length of trials, but the social and political context that continues to underestimate the extent of the mafia phenomenon: "Criminal organizations have won. It's not enough to imprison the bosses: they rule from prison, they protect their capital on the outside, while everything else focuses on the crimes of small-time criminals or desperate immigrants."
The writer then emphasized the absence of public and political figures in trials of this kind: "Have you ever seen a politician here? Any public figure, aside from my friends or those of Rosaria Capacchione? Journalists targeted by criminal organizations are a nuisance, unless they're useful to some political party."
Saviano concluded bitterly: "The criminal economy remains the most prosperous in Italy, with over €100 million in daily earnings. But we continue to talk about immigrant crimes. See you at the next adjournment." The next chapter in this long legal case, therefore, remains pending, awaiting a new date that, hopefully, will finally lead to a conclusion. Meanwhile, Saviano's alarm is rising loudly against a system that, in his view, not only fails to protect victims, but ends up benefiting criminals.
Really sad situation, it seems that justice is always in favor of criminals. Let's hope this long wait ends soon.
It's strange that after so many years the trials never end, they always seem to be delayed. Saviano is right, the justice system doesn't work as it should and the real culprits get away with it. But who listens to the voices of those who suffer? The mafia is a serious problem and should not be ignored.