Camorra: Final convictions for boss Bidognetti and lawyer over threats against Saviano

Rome, 20 March (LaPresse) – The Court of Cassation has rejected the appeals of Francesco Bidognetti, the long-standing head of the Casalesi clan, and lawyer Michele Santonastaso, thereby confirming the convictions for threats made in 2008 against journalists Roberto Saviano and Rosaria Capacchione. The boss had been sentenced to one year and six months in prison, whilst the lawyer received a sentence of one year and two months. The events date back to the Spartacus appeal trial in Naples, where the Casalesi clan was on trial for mafia-related activities. Last July, the Rome Court of Appeal had already upheld the first-instance ruling, recognising the aggravating circumstance of mafia-style methods in the threats made against the journalists. Today, Deputy Attorney General Perla Lori had requested that the appeals lodged by the defendants be declared inadmissible. The National Federation of the Italian Press, represented by lawyer Giulio Vasaturo, had joined the proceedings as a civil party to protect the threatened journalists.