Toto Riina Admitted to Meeting PM Andreotti in the 1990s
Andreotti died having been cleansed of Mafia-related crimes. |
“Riina changed Cosa Nostra from having a democratic, federal organisation to an authoritarian management style – and that’s a euphemism given that he would murder colleagues for making the wrong hand gesture at meetings.”
Toto Riina, the jailed 'boss of bosses' of the Sicilian Mafia, for the first time, claimed he met with seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti.
This revelation is released mere days before the Venice premier of La Trattativa, an Italian documentary about secret talks allegedly held between Cosa Nostra and the Italian government in the 1990s.
According to the Telegraph Riina has long been accused of meeting the former Christian Democrat leader.
Andreotti (January 1919 – May 2013) was the 41st Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the Christian Democracy party -- which clung to power for decades by being the only alternative to communism in the turbulent decades of the Cold War. Of all the Western powers, it was long feared that Italy would most likely be the first democracy to fall under the Eastern Bloc's flag.
Andreotti, occupying all the major offices of state over a forty-year political career, reassured the civil service, business community, and the Vatican and also helped to further integrate Italy into the European Union. In foreign policy, he established closer relations with the Arab world.
Andreotti was subjected to criminal prosecutions -- and was acquitted following trial in Palermo of collaborating with the Mafia. Many of his close Sicilian allies had known links to Sicily's Cosa Nostra.
This revelation is released mere days before the Venice premier of La Trattativa, an Italian documentary about secret talks allegedly held between Cosa Nostra and the Italian government in the 1990s.
According to the Telegraph Riina has long been accused of meeting the former Christian Democrat leader.
Andreotti (January 1919 – May 2013) was the 41st Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the Christian Democracy party -- which clung to power for decades by being the only alternative to communism in the turbulent decades of the Cold War. Of all the Western powers, it was long feared that Italy would most likely be the first democracy to fall under the Eastern Bloc's flag.
Mob watchers have suggested that the mafia’s murder of magistrate Paolo Borsellino in 1992 was assisted by secret service agents because Borsellino had stumbled onto evidence of
mafia-state talks.
Andreotti was subjected to criminal prosecutions -- and was acquitted following trial in Palermo of collaborating with the Mafia. Many of his close Sicilian allies had known links to Sicily's Cosa Nostra.
The Telegraph noted: "Prosecutors in Perugia charged him with ordering the murder of a journalist. In 2002 he was found guilty, which led to complaints that the justice system had "gone mad."
He was later definitively acquitted by the supreme court. Andreotti remarked "Apart from the Punic Wars, for which I was too young, I have been blamed for everything."
He wouldn't be so flippant right now, with what Riina has been saying.
Riina was allegedly trying to broker a deal with the Italian government to reduce jail time for imprisoned mob bosses, even as the mob mounted a series of murderous bomb attacks up and down Italy. Riina has been held in a maximum security prison since his 1993 capture.
Now, police have revealed that Riina admitted the meeting did take place.
"With an escort, I met him," Riina told Puglian crime boss Alberto Lorusso in a prison exercise yard, where police had installed secret microphones, La Repubblica reported.
The admission actually was made last year, but only now was placed in evidence in an ongoing trial in Palermo of senior Italian politicians accused of bargaining with Riina's men to get the mob to stop its bombing campaign.
The probe is central to La Trattativa, comedian and actress Sabina Guzzanti's new film, which combines documentary interviews with actors playing mobsters and politicians.
“Riina changed Cosa Nostra from a having a democratic, federal organisation to an authoritarian management style – and that’s a euphemism given that he would murder colleagues for making the wrong hand gesture at meetings,” she told the Telegraph.
“What followed were the senseless murder of hundreds, strange contacts with the Italian secret services and the bombings,” said Guzzanti.
Guzzanti said allegations of shadowy talks were just as relevant today as they were two decades ago.
“We are not just talking about bombs and concessions made by politicians to the mafia, but the idea that the mafia was receiving help from elements within the Italian army, the secret services and the government.”
Mob watchers have suggested that the mafia’s murder of a magistrate, Paolo Borsellino, in 1992, was assisted by secret service agents because Borsellino had stumbled onto evidence of mafia-state talks.
“This film is also relevant because the mob went on to give its backing to Silvio Belusconi’s newly formed Forza Italia party in 1994 after the fall of Andreotti’s Christian Democrats,” said Guzzanti.
Guzzanti said Riina may be attempting to flex what muscle he has left. “After years of rotting in jail, these statements could be a threat made in order to get something in return for his silence.”
Now, police have revealed that Riina admitted the meeting did take place.
"With an escort, I met him," Riina told Puglian crime boss Alberto Lorusso in a prison exercise yard, where police had installed secret microphones, La Repubblica reported.
The admission actually was made last year, but only now was placed in evidence in an ongoing trial in Palermo of senior Italian politicians accused of bargaining with Riina's men to get the mob to stop its bombing campaign.
The probe is central to La Trattativa, comedian and actress Sabina Guzzanti's new film, which combines documentary interviews with actors playing mobsters and politicians.
“Riina changed Cosa Nostra from a having a democratic, federal organisation to an authoritarian management style – and that’s a euphemism given that he would murder colleagues for making the wrong hand gesture at meetings,” she told the Telegraph.
“What followed were the senseless murder of hundreds, strange contacts with the Italian secret services and the bombings,” said Guzzanti.
Guzzanti said allegations of shadowy talks were just as relevant today as they were two decades ago.
“We are not just talking about bombs and concessions made by politicians to the mafia, but the idea that the mafia was receiving help from elements within the Italian army, the secret services and the government.”
Mob watchers have suggested that the mafia’s murder of a magistrate, Paolo Borsellino, in 1992, was assisted by secret service agents because Borsellino had stumbled onto evidence of mafia-state talks.
“This film is also relevant because the mob went on to give its backing to Silvio Belusconi’s newly formed Forza Italia party in 1994 after the fall of Andreotti’s Christian Democrats,” said Guzzanti.
Guzzanti said Riina may be attempting to flex what muscle he has left. “After years of rotting in jail, these statements could be a threat made in order to get something in return for his silence.”
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