Borsellino massacre, the surviving agent: “The misdirections continue”

Behind the massacre in via D’Amelio, in which judge Paolo Borsellino and five officers of the escort died, “there was not only the mafia”. “Surely there is someone who still tries to pull the strings well. The misdirections, unfortunately, continue. And the will of someone, even in the institutions, does not allow us to get to the truth of the facts. After 29 years”. Antonio Vullo is the only escort agent who survived the Via D’Amelio massacre. There was that Sunday afternoon, when at 4.58 pm everything blew up, taking away six people. He was injured. But the biggest wound, the longest scars, are not seen. Those are inside him. Just look at his eyes. Here, in via D’Amelio. Antonio Vullo came here this morning for the garrison organized in view of Monday’s 29th anniversary. Many come to ask to take a picture with him, shake his hand. But he doesn’t like it. He gets embarrassed. A fellow policeman tells him: “You are a hero, thanks to men like you today the fight against the mafia is easier”. And he shields himself. “No, I’m not a hero. The judge and my colleagues were …”, and points to the door. Where Paolo Borsellino was when the car bomb went off. Last night Antonio Vullo participated, in the atrium of Law in Palermo, in ‘La Grande Menzogna, the misdirection of via D’Amelio’, the dramaturgy on the acts of the Regional Anti-Mafia Commission of the Ars which in recent days published the report on the misdirection. “There are still many of those famous people in institutions who do not want to get to the truth – says Vullo in an interview with Adnkronos – because it is not just a factor of the mafia, but something more. Also because we saw immediately after what they did…”. “The misdirections on the Via D’Amelio massacre continue – continues the former escort agent – And every time we get close to the truth, an external fact always takes over that brings us back to the investigations”. “Seeing the evolution of the situation in recent years – he says – we understand that the misdirections continue to be present and certainly not good for our history. Nor for us who have suffered this massacre and it is not good especially for Italians who believe they can get to the truth. Even now, here, in via D’Amelio, you see, there are many people who come to pay homage to the judge and my colleagues who died that day, and they too try to have a truth “. But who doesn’t want the truth? Who does not want to know what really happened, who wanted the death of the anti-mafia judge? “On July 19, when someone entered this hell, while it was all up in smoke, with cars exploding and the same weapons exploding. Someone came to do that shameful act. Even today the videos remain and we wonder why “. Antonio Vullo refers to the judge’s bag taken away from the car, with the red diary inside. An agenda never found again. ‘It is never easy for me to return to via D’Amelio, I prefer to come alone’ On last night’s play, with actors like David Coco and the presence of the President of the Antimafia Claudio Fava, Antonio Vullo, who was sitting next to Fiammetta Borsellino, says: “The effect is always what brings you back to that day, it was done in a dramatic way but highlighted many passages, such as misdirection, the mind went back to July 19”. “It is not easy for me to return to via d’Amelio, I usually come when there is no one – he says – because I find a moment of peace, I feel very close to them, to the judges and to my colleagues, when there is no one, because I can reconcile my life with those who stayed here, that day, forever. When there are so many people, the fact of having survived comes to mind, an emotion so strong that it makes me feel terrible . Being next to the victims’ families is something that triggers so much pain that I think Claudio, Vincenzo, Emanuela could have been in my place. And it’s a consequence that makes me feel terrible, while when I’m alone I can find peace ” . (by Elvira Terranova)