Anti-mafia, and the death of the magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino PDF

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Anti-mafia, and the death of the magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino...

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Chap 2: Anti-mafia, and the death of the magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino

1.Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino Sicilian connections Importantly, not only is the mafia involved in criminal acts today but they also influence the government greatly. It is understood by many that Italy, primarily southern parts, is and has been in a state of corruption, politically and economically. The governments’ elite and affiliations with the mafia have enabled this to occur. Politically, the government itself has been run alongside the mafia whom also have the similar aim to attain power by ruling parts of the country. The mafia, as a criminal group, are theoretically a powerful group separate to the government. Unfortunately, due to their increasing power the mafia has attained over the years it has proven difficult for the government to be run successfully. Therefore it can lead to some ruling elites seeking aid from the mafia, provoking corruption to the country. Whether the association of both groups working together has helped the economy or not is uncertain. Not only have government officials been siding with the mafia, there have certainly been officials whom are on the other side of the spectrum, whom had been trying to diminish illegal activities within the criminal group. These are known as the anti-mafia movement. There have been many state representatives famous for their efforts of battling against the ulterior power, the mafia. This dissertation will be solely discussing links with the Cosa Nostra in Sicily. When regarding the anti-mafia movement of government officials, their main aim is to arrest organized crime dangerous figures and defeat mafia power against the government, with the desire for the government to be the only ruling authority in the country, and help stabilise the economy. Prominent victims from their anti-mafia involvement are Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, according to Letitzia Paoli, as the key officials for the first ever anti-mafia pool within the Parliament. (Paoli, 2003). There have been a fair number of assassinations with state officials or those within the anti-mafia movement, particularly car bombs. Most significantly, prior to the movement against the

mafia by magistrates Falcone and Borsellino, was the murder of General Dalla Chiesa by the Cosa Nostra, in the capital city of Palermo in 1982. This murder could have potentially been one of the motivating factors for the magistrates to have instigated the fight against the mafia. Giovani Falcone was a leading figure; he was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1939. Falcone studied at the local school but he maintained a strong opinion against the mafia, he had the belief that it was “invincible, and by the widely held view that to admit to the Mafia's existence was to echo northern Italians' attacks on Sicily.” (The telegraph, 1992) Falcone and Borsellino grew up together in the Sicilian town of La Kalsa, in the heart of Palermo. Through the years, La Kalsa had become notorious for the inhabitants of the prominent mafia boss Masino Spadaro (Orlando, 2001). This accentuates the factor that Borsellino and Falcone were both born and bred in Sicily, and from what is known as the ‘capital of the mafia’ Palermo, thus they were able to live a similar lifestyle to those within the mafia and were able to familiarise themselves with mafia personalities. Masino Spadaro was an experienced drug mule; both, Borsellino and Falcone had become familiar with him during their childhood. Falcone had once said “Do you know why I’m so good at fighting the Mafia? Because I’m a Mafiosi myself” (Orlando, 2001: 100). He had grown up surrounded by future Mafiosi characters, giving him an insight into the Mafiosi depositions, which is why he was acknowledged as such a dominant character in fighting the Cosa Nostra. Not only this, but because he had grown up in such a prominent mafia town it could have potentially given him similar characteristics to the mafia and that may have been the reason he was able to speak with them on an understanding level, as will later be discussed when Falcone was speaking with Tomasso Buscetta. Paolo Borsellino had also shared the same view as his long-term friend Falcone, as he too had grown up surrounded by sons of Mafiosi, he once even stated in an interview on television in 1992, that he was jealous of some of his childhood friends who were sons of the ‘ capimafia’ Orlando, 2001:100)

due to them being significant personalities in the village, as his father was merely a pharmacist and he wasn’t recognised as anyone special (Orlando, 2001). Falcone believed that the mafia could be defeated by competent investigators. In the 1960’s he became involved in investigating bankruptcy, this lead to cases linked to the mafia and businesses. In 1979 he was appointed in the former Judge Chinnici's select anti-Mafia pool of judges and prosecutors. Falcone knew that by joining this group his life was under threat. He stated that his life was 'not more important to me than the button of my jacket - I'm a real Sicilian' (The telegraph, 1992). Falcone and Borsellino had shared different political views; Falcone had been a right-wing follower, through his proficiency in dealing with illicit banking transactions. Meanwhile, Borsellino was more of a left-wing follower; his determination for the mafia to be eliminated had derived from his good friend Emanuele Basile whom had been part of the ‘Carabiniere’ (Orlando, 2001:100) and killed by the Cosa Nostra (Orlando, 2001). Evidently, both figures demonstrated the typical personality traits of those who had grown up with a Sicilian background, as both were persistent and courageous. This proves that they were the exact characters which would be able to fight the mafia. 2. The magistrates work in eliminating the Cosa Nostra

It had been acknowledged that Falcone would be the individual to interrogate Tommaso Buscetta., whom had been arrested in 1984.Tommaso Buscetta (1928 - 2 April 2000) was an important figure breaking the mafia’s omertà (the code of honour and silence). He wasn’t a prominent individual in the mafia but he had the ability to give the government a huge insight into how the mafia was run and offered undisclosed information (Philip Wilian, 2000). He was part of the gang of Toto Riina (il capo at the time) called Corleonese, they were a large mafia family, not only were they causing damage to the Sicilian economy, they were working all over the world during that time, significantly involved in drug trafficking in America. When Buscetta had been arrested he would not speak to

anyone. Falcone had been the one able to get him to speak out and trust him. They managed to form a respectable relationship; Falcone managed to captivate him with his great knowledge on the mafia, meanwhile Falcone enjoyed listening to him speak about the Cosa Nostra, and obtain the precise knowledge in order to convict certain Mafiosi bosses and figures. Buscetta had confided in Falcone, he expressed to him that he thought it was better to be in the mafia than against it, as he believed they were currently in power (Orlando, 2001).This was one of the biggest interventions as Falcone had managed to give the state a secret inside power. It is also interesting to see that at this time, it could be said that due to Buscetta’s statement of believing the mafia were in control of the country, other Mafiosi members must have followed the same proclamation. Leading to the suggestion, that one could assume that at this point, the mafia could have been the leading power above the government itself, and that this is why Falcone and Borsellino had begun to fight against the alternative power to regain authority back into the hands of the state. The accomplishment of Buscetta’s defiance to the ‘omerta’ demonstrates Falcone’s absolute dedication to combat the mafia problems and their exploitations of those in the government. He maintained the opinion that the state was the power which was destined to lead the country and the mafia was an inferior power aiming to surpass that power. In July 1983 Falcone became the operative head of the anti-Mafia pool after a third death that of Judge Chinnici who had been assassinated by the mafia, blown up by a car bomb in July 1983. This gave Falcone more fortitude to eliminate the mafia and was able to convict 342 mafiosi (The telegraph, 1992). This significantly displays an introduction to the fall in the power of the mafia. Falcone along with most of his family and other high profile members in the government, such as Borsellino whom were ‘wanted’ by the mafia, frequently lived under the court in isolation and high security as they were in great risk of being assassinated, as Chinnici had been (The telegraph, 1992). Another important period involving Falcone and Borsellino’s success in defeating the mafia was the Christmas of 1987. Many leading Mafiosi had been convicted; it was a time of great victory for the

power of the state against the power of the mafia. They managed to obtain 344 guilty defendants, this lead to the very first ‘Maxi-trial’ which begun on the 10 th of February 1986. Nineteen had received life sentences; Salvatore Riina, the head of the mafia in the infamous area of Corleone, his deputy Bernardo Provenzano, both had been sentenced in ‘absentia’ (Lane, 2004). Regardless of the fact that Borsellino and Falcone had attained a great degree of success following the maxi-trial in 1987. As claimed by David Lane, the mafia had not been as badly affected as it had been perceived to society (Lane, 2004). This did not mean that the mafia were fearful of the government post the maxi-trial; they continued their illicit activities still maintaining their aim to achieve power beyond the state. Instead, it pushed the mafia to conquer the state and disregard and eliminate those who were a threat to the Cosa Nostra. This became their main obligation. Falcone’s life came to an end in May 1992 on a motorway bomb attack with his wife, driver and three bodyguards. Falcone had known that for one to be in his presence would come at a high cost. The mafia killed off anyone who is harmful to the mafia and he was. According to Lane, a group of mafiosi had met up in a house nearby to Castelvetrano, Sicily. Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina had allegedly made the suggestion to eliminate Falcone. Riina and another Mafioso Bernardo Provenzano had made the choice to tell the other Mafiosi that Falcone was indefinitely a threat to the existence of the Cosa Nostra as he had acquired a great enterprise in his work. (Lane, 2004). The Cosa Nostra had placed explosives above a drainage tunnel on the highway of Capaci, Sicily, which had been set off by remote control (Lane, 2004). The disrespect the mafia had for the government was evidently displayed, with no regard to innocent victim’s life. The Cosa Nostra will go to extreme lengths to avoid the state defeating the mafia. According to Orlando, the assassination had been carried out in such a destructive way to achieve a symbolic fear for further government officials attempting in combatting the mafia. Orlando states that they had rehearsed with speeding cars, so they were able to determine the right time to issue the trigger (Orlando, 2004). The mafia

recognized that such an assassination would become world-wide news, supporting the fact that another attempt to defeat the mafia will come at the cost of their life and they too will be physically eliminated. It is also clear that for the mafia to have carried out these murders, the mafia must have realised that Falcone was indeed a deep threat to the existence of the Cosa Nostra, which also could be proof that demonstrates Falcone had made sufficient progress of defeating the mafia, and if he had had the chance he knew the sufficient ways to eliminate the organized criminal gang. Following Falcone’s assassination, Borsellino took over his role in defeating the mafia; he was then killed soon after by the mafia in July 1992. He knew he was next to be targeted. Members of the secret service were asked to act as escorts for Borsellino; many kept their distance and did not want to travel with him. He had told his wife Agnese Borsellino that he had felt he was running against time, during the last two months of his life (Orlando, 2001). Attaining the notion that the mafia had severely scared the government after this assassination and made them realise they were likely to commit another murder to achieve their aim. Borsellino had arrived at his mother’s apartment block in Via D’Amelio on a Sunday; 57 days post his close friend Falcone’s death. The magistrate had been about the ring his mother’s doorbell and was killed by a great explosion, killing other innocent people in the surrounding area (Orlando, 2004). According to Lane, the mafia had been investigating Borsellino’s daily routines for some time and had chosen the specific moment and place to attack him (Lane, 2004). Arguing that, to be a part of this illegal gang, one must be able to possess a high form of intelligence to be able to plan such an event in such a skilful way. It was certain that those who were the head of this murder were the head of the mafia, due to their motive being fulfilled within their first attempt of murdering both magistrates, successfully eliminating them from causing further disruption to the mafia gang. As well as presenting that this happened through observation of Borsellino for a certain amount of time without being caught or recognised. This could additionally display that a mafioso does not look any different to a regular Sicilian and would be difficult to distinguish between one another. Furthermore,

it could conjointly portray that at this point not even the carabinieri of the state could permit this murder from occurring, consequently, there is potential for the argument that the mafia may possess more intelligence than the state. Schneider et al, offers the same opinion as most authors, discussing that their work was extremely dangerous, but also developed two critical analytical strategies that had been developed by Falcone and Borsellino prior to their murders. These were money tracing and knowing how to issue certain Mafiosi into becoming ‘justice collaborators’ (Schneider et al, 2005:47). Both magistrates whilst working on their anti-mafia campaign managed to establish new research techniques and knowledge, leading to the largest amount of arrests and convictions than had ever occurred before. Their work also managed to produce a positive effect of society. There were many supporters of the magistrate’s work, supporters urged for the government to reinstate components of the state which had traditionally given benefits and security for the mafia to work. Schneider states that institutes such as banks, the church, the unions and university had compromised with these demands and issued a change in their structures which they believed had previously helped the mafia (Schneider et al, 2005). Furthermore, the fight against the mafia was called the ‘antimafia movement’ (Schneider et al, 2005:161) by the virtue of the success Falcone and Borsellino were achieving prior to their assassination, citizens consequently began to follow their work. The followers started to encourage the values of democracy and respect, as a social movement. It is important to sustain that participants, prominently regarding Falcone and Borsellino, in the ‘antimafia movement’ were Sicilian and were grateful for their identity, even though it was shared with the mafia (Schneider et al, 2005).

3. The After effects of the assassination

According to Lane, Italians all over the country were appalled and devastated by the attacks on the magistrates Falcone and Borsellino. This promoted the desire to conquer the mafia more important than before. Although, there had been a definite attempt to overthrow the mafia prior to the murders, it appeared that due to the reaction of the public, state members would be forced into even more attempts to defeat the Cosa Nostra. Many were outraged that community employers had been murdered for doing their job (Lane, 2004). Orlando accepts this notion, by discussing that the citizens of Palermo were responding in an absurd manner. Women began to display bloody sheets over their balconies; the representation of blood on a sheet is something personal. Slogans with blood read ‘Down with the mafia!’ (Orlando, 2001:159).Although, this doesn’t necessarily concern the states reaction to Falcone and Borsellino’s death, it is important to notice how the Sicilian society had reacted, once being afraid to even utter the word mafia they (especially women) felt it was necessary to symbolise the fact that they were no longer frightened and sought the notion that mafia more than ever had to be eliminated. With concern to the state, this should have also lead to empower to state to devote even more attention to defeating the mafia. Moreover, Lane believes that the Cosa Nostra’s attack on the magistrates was also an attack on Italian society, with their goal to destabilise the government through perplexing their power. The Cosa Nostra wanted to relax the conditions of Mafiosi in prison, and wanted to modify judicial conditions of the efficiency of Mafiosi who decided to collaborate with the authorities, as well as the ‘movimento antimafia’ to appear less in the media. They assumed that the way in which the government officials would be forced to negotiate with these terms, was by making them fearful of them by their attacks in 1992(Lane, 2004). Thereby this verifies that the mafia’s aim is to achieve power above the state. They strived to become the leading power of the country and would not let the state interfere with their goal. Furthermore, Lane offers the opinion that the assassinations had conveyed severe implications for the Cosa Nostra. Stating that, the Italian Justice system had achieved significant outcomes from the

murders; in March 1996 charges were made on ‘ Mafiosi’ accountable for the attacks. The conviction of Giovanni Brusca, whom had been the figure to set off the remote device in Capaci to murder Falcone, achieved many benefits for the justice system, they were able to get Brusca to cooperate with them and again have a better insight of the mafia’s motive for these attacks. In a testimony in January 1998, Brusca said that their aim was to ‘get the state to crap itself’ (Lane, 2004:22). Following the testimony, the authorities managed to capture a further 12 ‘Mafiosi’, due to Brusca’s statements, they too decided to liaise with authorities. (Lane, 2004). Due to all these Mafiosi and their statements, it allowed the state to have a further perception on other significant figures to look out for and investigate further into the aims of the criminal gang. Conforming to Schneider et al, the assassinations of the two magistrates established an amount of success, with their efforts to have taken legitimate and political action to conquer specific problems, similarly, their efforts to alter society’s views and actions by supporting values of a civil society (Schnieder et al, 2005) In April 2000, the court in Caltanissetta managed to deliver 29 life sentences for the murders of Borsellino and Falcone. These trials were known as maxi-trials, due to there being so many defendants. Responsible for the assassination of not only Falcone, but also Borsellino, was Giovanni Brusca. Bernardo Provenzano was also a leading figure whom was convicted for the murder of Borsellino. By 2004, the law enforcement agency and the anti-mafia prosecutors had accomplished in continuing their degree of success in catching hundreds of Mafiosi, and sentenced to prison (Lane, 2004). All in all, it is evident that Giovanni Falcone and Borsellino had contributed to a substantial amount of success to diminishing the rising mafia power, due to the amount of arrests they had made of prominent mafia figures. They had also attained a popular reaction from Italian citizens who shared the desire to defeat the Cosa Nostra, leading to officials within the government with the obligation to carry on the fight against the Cosa Nostra....