Spartacus Trial

Last updated
The Court d'Assise President, Raimondo Romeres reads out the verdict of the final sentences on 19 June 2008. (Photo:EPA) SpartacusTrialVerdict.jpg
The Court d'Assise President, Raimondo Romeres reads out the verdict of the final sentences on 19 June 2008. (Photo:EPA)

The Spartacus Trial (Italian: Processo Spartacus) was a series of criminal trials, each specifically directed against the activities of the powerful Casalesi clan of the Camorra. The trial was opened at the Corte d'Assise of Santa Maria Capua Vetere in Caserta. It was named after the historical gladiator, Spartacus (who led a rebellion of slaves beginning in old Capua against the ancient Roman Empire). The trial was initially chaired by its president, Catello Marano on 1 July 1998. It continued just over ten years, until its final verdict was eventually read on 19 June 2008. [1] [2]

In that 10-year legal trial, 36 members of the clan were charged with a string of murders and other crimes. The Casalesi clan had exploited and extorted from every business and economic opportunity, from waste disposal to construction, in creating a monopoly in the cement market for their own building businesses to the distribution of materials.[ vague ] Building business would have to pay for the contracts, buy material from the clan, and keep paying for protection. The clan also controlled elections. [3]

All defendants were found guilty and 16 sentenced to life imprisonment including prominent Casalesi bosses, Francesco Schiavone and his chief lieutenant, Francesco Bidognetti. The other two bosses Antonio Iovine and Michele Zagaria were also given life sentences. They were on the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy, with international warrants for their arrest [2] [4] until Iovine was arrested on 17 November 2010, [5] and Zagaria on 7 December 2011. [6] The other Casalesi clan members who received life sentences were: Giuseppe Caterino, Cipriano D'Alessandro, Enrico Martinelli, Sebastiano Panaro, Giuseppe Russo, Walter Schiavone, Luigi Venosa, Vincenzo Zagaria, Alfredo Zara, Mario Caterino and Raffaele Diana.

More than 1,300 people were investigated, 508 witnesses gave evidence and 626 were interviewed in the trial which saw the heaviest penalties ever for organised crime with a total of 700 years of imprisonment. Over the course of the initial trial and the appeal, five people involved in the case were murdered, including a court interpreter. A judge and two journalists were threatened with death. [3] [4] In all, 115 people were prosecuted, 27 life sentences, plus 750 years in prison were handed out to the defendants. On 15 January 2010, Italy's Supreme Court confirmed the sentence. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

The Camorra is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 17th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Calò</span> Italian mobster

Giuseppe "Pippo" Calò is an Italian mobster and member of the Sicilian Mafia in Porta Nuova. He was referred to as the cassiere di Cosa Nostra because he was heavily involved in the financial side of organized crime, primarily money laundering. He was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment as part of the 1986/87 Maxi Trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 for organising the 1984 Train 904 bombing and was given several further life sentences between 1995 and 2002. He was also charged with ordering the murder of Roberto Calvi – nicknamed il banchiere di Dio – of the Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, but was acquitted in 2007 due to "insufficient evidence" in a surprise verdict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organized crime in Italy</span> Prevalent criminal organizations and activities in Italy

Criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially in the southern part of the country, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions. There are major native mafia-like organizations that are heavily active in Italy. The most powerful of these organizations are the 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, the Cosa Nostra from Sicily, and the Camorra from Campania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Saviano</span> Italian journalist and writer (born 1979)

Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book Gomorrah, he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic reality of the territory and business of organized crime in Italy, in particular the Camorra crime syndicate, and of organized crime more generally.

The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra confederation created in the 1970s and headed by the most powerful Camorra bosses of the time, Carmine Alfieri, the Nuvoletta brothers, Michele Zaza, Luigi Giuliano and Antonio Bardellino, to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata, and affiliated with the Sicilian Mafia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Schiavone</span> Italian criminal

Francesco Schiavone is a member of the Camorra, the Caserta organized crime syndicate, and the head of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta. He has been dubbed Sandokan after a popular 1970s television series starring Kabir Bedi because of his thick, dark beard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Bardellino</span> Casalesi clan boss

Antonio Bardellino was a powerful Camorrista and boss of the Casalesi clan, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province of Caserta during the 1980s. He was one of the last of the old-style Camorra godfathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casalesi clan</span> Criminal organization

The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area. The Casalesi clan is believed to be one of the most powerful groups within the Camorra, specialising in construction and keeping a lower profile than clans that focus on drug dealing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Zagaria</span> Italian crime boss

Michele Zagaria is an Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta northwest of Naples. He was nicknamed Capastorta, which translates to "twisted head", because of his violent reputation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Iovine</span>

Antonio Iovine is a powerful Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Lazio. His nickname is 'o ninno, because of his baby face when he was made a capo at a very young age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Bidognetti</span>

Francesco Bidognetti is a powerful Italian Camorrista. He is the chief lieutenant of Francesco Schiavone, boss of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta, and head of the Bidognetti clan, one of the five clans which make up the Casalesi. He is known as "'Cicciott' 'e Mezzanotte'".

The Castel Volturno massacre is the name given by the Italian press to a mass shooting perpetrated by the Casalesi clan in which seven people were killed on 18 September 2008. The massacre outside the Ob Ob Exotic Fashion tailor shop on the Via Domitiana was widely characterized as part of a growing conflict between the native Camorra and the immigrant African drug gangs. Murdered were Antonio Celiento, the owner of an arcade next to Baia Verde, and six African immigrants: Samuel Kwaku, 26 (Togo); Alaj Ababa (Togo); Francis Antwi, 31 (Ghana); Eric Affum Yeboah, 25 (Ghana); Alex Geemes, 28 (Liberia) and Cristopher Adams, 28 (Liberia). Joseph Ayimbora (Ghana), 34, survived by feigning death; he later helped identify the killers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Setola</span> Italian criminal

Giuseppe Setola is an Italian Camorrista and former boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. Since 2008, he was included on the list most wanted fugitives in Italy, until his arrest on January 14, 2009, in Mignano Monte Lungo. Setola allegedly headed a squad of killers, and was said to have ordered or carried out 18 murders throughout the latter half of 2008. Police began a massive manhunt against Setola in response to the murders of six West African immigrants in Castel Volturno.

Carmine Schiavone was a former member of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta. He was a cousin of former Camorra superboss Francesco Schiavone and became a pentito collaborating with Italian Justice. He was the chief witness against the Casalesi clan during the Spartacus Maxi trial that culminated in sixteen senior Casalesi figures being sentenced to life imprisonment, among them Francesco Bidognetti, Michele Zagaria and Antonio Iovine. After living in the Witness Protection Program for some years, Schiavione retired to live in the province of Viterbo, with his wife and two children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raffaele Diana</span>

Raffaele Diana is an Italian Camorrista and senior boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. His nickname is Rafilotto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Caterino</span>

Mario Caterino is an Italian Camorrista and member in the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno. He was on the "most wanted list" of the Italian ministry of the Interior since 2005, for murder and membership in the Camorra, until he was arrested on May 2, 2011, in Casal di Principe.

Nicola Panaro, is an Italian Camorrista and member in the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno. He has been on the "most wanted list" of the Italian ministry of the Interior since 2003 until his arrest in April 2010. Convicted for extortion and membership in the Camorra, he has yet to serve a prison sentence of nine years and four months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Cosentino</span> Italian politician (born 1959)

Nicola Cosentino is an Italian politician. Nicknamed "Nick 'o mericano", he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 9 May 1996 to 14 March 2013 for Forza Italia and The People of Freedom in four legislatures, as well as undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 12 May 2008 to 14 July 2010 in the fourth Berlusconi government. In 2023, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed his conviction for external complicity in mafia association.

References

  1. (in Italian) Il maxiprocesso Spartacus e il silenzio della stampa, Cuntrastamu, 30 September 2005
  2. 1 2 (in Italian) «Processo Spartacus», 16 ergastoli ai Casalesi, Corriere del Mezzogiorno, June 20, 2008
  3. 1 2 Camorra get terms they can't refuse, Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, 2008
  4. 1 2 Godfathers of €25bn mafia family get life after epic trial, The Independent, 20 June 2008
  5. Camorra Boss Antonio Iovine Arrested, Corriere della Sera, November 18, 2010
  6. "Catturato Michele Zagaria dopo assedio a Casapesenna". La Repubblica (in Italian). 7 December 2011.
  7. (in Italian) La Cassazione conferma le condanne al clan dei Casalesi, Corriere della Sera, January 15, 2010
  8. (in Italian) La Cassazione conferma la sentenza: Sedici ergastoli contro i Casalesi, La Repubblica, 15 January 2010