Italy marches against the Mafia

Thousands of people are expected in Naples later today, for a mass demonstration against the mafia.

Church groups will join political parties, social organisations and ordinary people to challenge what they call the evil grip of the underworld.

The Naples march will highlight three days of protests, which started with a demonstration in nearby Casal di Principe on Thursday. The Naples region is the heartland of the powerful Camorra organised crime syndicate.

Don Luigi Ciotti, a well-known priest and one of the leaders of LIBERA – the biggest anti-mafia association – addressed the crowd.

“Every year we mark this day, and every year the number of innocent victims goes up,” he said.

Popular anger has been rising in Italy since the anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were murdered in Sicily in 1992. Their deaths shocked the country.

The few police successes include the arrest of the so-called boss of bosses Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina in Palermo in 1993. Many however, fear the mafia was merely wounded, not beaten.

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tags: Italy, Mafia