Camorra, threats to Saviano and Capacchione: two convictions and an acquittal in Rome

Two convictions and one acquittal in the trial for the threats addressed in the courtroom during the ‘Spartacus’ appeal process in Naples, in 2008, to the journalist Rosaria Capacchione and the writer Roberto Saviano. This is what the judges of the Fourth Criminal Section of the Court of Rome decided, who recognized the threats aggravated by the mafia method. In particular, the boss of the Casalesi clan Francesco Bidognetti was sentenced to one year and six months, the lawyer Michele Santonastaso to one year and two months while the other lawyer Carmine D’Aniello was acquitted. The prosecutor Alberto Galanti in the indictment of 11 February had asked for a sentence for all to one and a half years. The writer Roberto Saviano was present in the courtroom to attend the reading of the sentence. The National Press Federation, represented by the lawyer Giulio Vasaturo, and the Order of Journalists of Campania were present as the civil party. Four years ago, the first instance sentence was declared void by the Naples Court of Appeal for territorial incompetence and the proceedings had been transferred to Rome. “We hope that from this sentence the message arrives that you cannot attack those who provide information with impunity or that can be done in a court of law – said the Fnsi president Giuseppe Giulietti after the sentence – We will always be at the side of the reporters, even those less known, precarious or who do not have the strength to report. to be more and more present. “” This trial does not compensate but it has been a long battle that has shown that the Casalesi clan is not invincible, “said Roberto Saviano after the sentence. “It was a delicate process that told how a clan tried to intimidate those who wrote about its power. A sentence – added the writer – that gives me hope but that will not give me back the 13 years of trial and the 15 years of life under escort, living under protection means losing one’s life. I am also happy for Rosaria Capacchione, victim of very ferocious years and subjected to attacks. I am happy that this sentence was pronounced in Rome because it shows that the problem of crime does not concern only the South”.