The biggest mob trial in modern-day Rome opens
on Thursday, with a one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other
defendants in the dock accused of operating a mafia network that plundered city
coffers.
The trial is the result of the "Mafia
Capital" investigation, which laid bare allegations of mobsters,
bureaucrats and politicians working hand-in-fist to siphon off millions of
euros from services covering everything from refugee centers to trash
collection.
At the heart of the scandal sits Massimo
Carminati, a one-time member of Rome's notorious far-right Magliana Gang, and
his sidekick Salvatore Buzzi, a convicted murderer.
Italian police allege Carminati and Buzzi
infiltrated Rome's city hall and got their hands on lucrative public contracts.
Police have released an array of wiretaps that they say show the defendants
openly discussing their various schemes.
"Do you have any idea how much you can make
from immigrants? The drugs trade brings you less money," Buzzi said in one
call.
Both Buzzi and Carminati have denied the mafia
charges.
As recently as 2013, the main government
representative in the Rome region downplayed the existence of the mafia in the
city, but the police probe, which was made public last December, suggested that
much of local administration was rotten.
"Rome is unfortunately fundamentally
corrupt," said Alfonso Sabella, a renowned Sicilian anti-mafia prosecutor
who was drafted into the city after the Mafia Capital scandal detonated late
last year.
"This is not your traditional mafia
involved in drug dealing or extortion rackets. This is something
original," he told Reuters, saying mobsters found accomplices in officials
and politicians of all colors.
Police say the group was organized like a mob
clan and have classified it as a mafia case. However, they say it was
independent of the traditional southern Italian mafias.
PRISON BUNKER
Amongst those standing trial are Luca Gramazio,
the former head of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party on the regional
council, and Mirko Coratti, former head of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's
center-left Democratic Party on the Rome city council.
Both have denied wrongdoing.
The case will open in Rome's main courthouse but
will then switch to the court bunker in the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of
Rome, where it is easier to secure large groups of defendants. It is expected
to run until at least next July.
Carminati, who lost an eye in a police shoot-out
in the early 1980s, is being held in a maximum security jail and will only be
allowed to follow proceedings via a video link.
An initial, fastracked trial tied to the scandal
ended on Tuesday, with all four defendants, including a senior city official,
found guilty and handed prison terms of between four and five years.
Prosecutors allege that mobsters flourished in
Rome following the 2008 election of right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno, who is
under investigation for graft, but does not face any mafia-related charges and
is not involved in this trial.
Alemanno's successor, the center-left Ignazio
Marino, is not implicated in the case, but was forced to resign last week
following in an unrelated expenses scandal.
Sabella says city hall has been purged over the
past year.
"I would put my hand in the fire and say
there is now no mafia in city hall. But I can't say the same about corruption.
Even as we speak, someone is probably paying someone a bribe somewhere in the Rome
city council," he said.
"That is what makes one so bitter."
(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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