ItalyA court prosecuting the ‘Ndrangheta, the notorious criminal mafia organization in the Calabria region, today found 207 gangsters and their associates guilty.
It took more than an hour and a half for Brigida Cavasino, the president of the court in Vibo Valentia, a small town in southern Italy, to read out the names of the criminals and their sentences one by one, Agence France-Presse reported. captured atthe prisonHere the punishment is given through video conferencing, in which the punishment ranges from a few months to 30 years.
Prosecutors originally sought sentences of about 5,000 years for 322 defendants, including mafia elements operating in Vibo Valencia and associates who tortured local residents.
After two years and nine months of trial, the court ultimately sentenced 207 guilty defendants to more than half the sentences requested by the prosecutor, totaling approximately 2,150 years. Among them, four experienced “Brave” members were sentenced to 30 years in prison each.
A collegial panel of three judges found 131 defendants not guilty; Prosecutors accused one of them of controlling mafia activities from prison and the other of helping take over the road and adjacent private land for sheep grazing.
One of the most high-profile defendants in the trial is Giancarlo Pittelli, a 70-year-old former congressman and lawyer who is accused of working for the Mafia, highlighting the close ties between “braves” and dignitaries. Petrie was sentenced to 11 years in prison, less than the 17-year sentence sought by prosecutors.
Family members of dozens of defendants sat in the back of the courtroom, trying to catch a glimpse of their jailed relatives through television screens. Sometimes, some people would cry with joy upon hearing the light punishment.
The verdicts temporarily end Italy’s biggest mafia trial in decades, but they are subject to two appeals. Although some were acquitted, it was the most serious blow yet to one of the world’s most powerful organized crime syndicates.
“Brave” took root in the poor Calabria region, but its sphere of influence extended far beyond that. It now has almost monopolized the cocaine business in Europe and has a presence in more than 40 countries around the world.
Since the trial began in January 2021, the court has heard thousands of hours of testimony, including from more than 50 former Mafia members who testified, detailing countless examples of the Braves’ brutality and control over space, such as That violent ambushes, blackmailing business owners, manipulating public tenders, stockpiling weapons, stealing votes, providing bribes to powerful people etc.
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