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Italy’s Top Court Finalizes Convictions Over Mafia Threats to Saviano and Capacchione

The decision formally classifies the 2008 Spartacus-hearing intimidation as a mafia threat after 18 years.

Overview

  • The Court of Cassation upheld prison terms of 1 year and 6 months for Casalesi boss Francesco Bidognetti and 1 year and 2 months for lawyer Michele Santonastaso, rejecting defense requests.
  • The threats were issued in a Naples courtroom in 2008 during the Spartacus appeal, with Bidognetti using his attorney to target Roberto Saviano and Rosaria Capacchione.
  • Saviano said the ruling acknowledges the mafia nature of the intimidation, thanked the Carabinieri for long-standing protection, and warned the State still cannot guarantee his freedom.
  • Rosaria Capacchione called the episode grave and placed it within the Casalesi clan’s war against the State, describing it as a terrorist strategy.
  • Saviano’s lawyer, Antonio Nobile, welcomed an important result that highlights judicial delays and noted the unusual use of a judicial act to menace journalists with a mafia aggravation.