Italy: Journalists targeted by Mafia for 40 years, says rights group

Rome, 11 June (AKI) - Italian journalists have been targeted by the Mafia for more than 40 years in their efforts to expose the organisation’s criminal activities, according to a media watchdog.

Information Safety & Freedom, an Italian-based rights group, recently published a report reviewing the number of journalists killed or threatened by the Mafia since 1960.

The organisation documented in its report, cases of nine journalists murdered by the Mafia from Cosimo Cristina who was killed in Sicily in 1960 to Beppe Alfano in 1993.

The ISF says it is important to remember the lives that have been lost and not to forget the efforts of journalists who work to expose the activities of the Mafia.

The report also speaks about the latest journalist and best-selling author to be targeted by the Mafia, Roberto Saviano.

In May he tried to rent an apartment in Naples but was forced to go elsewhere due to pressure from neighbours who feared Mafia reprisals.

Saviano, is the author of the non-fiction book ‘Gomorrah’ which has sold 1.2 million copies in Italy and been translated into several languages.

Saviano’s book denounces the activities of the local Mafia organisation known as the Camorra and Saviano has received grave threats by the Casalesi clan.

The ISF recently launched an appeal in Rome for increased protection of journalists reporting on the Mafia in Italy.

“We launch an appeal for the freedom of the press because we want to keep watch over the safey of our colleagues in Italy, who operate in the areas controlled by the Mafia,” said Stefano Marcelli, president of the ISF, in May.

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