Oct 27 2008
Anti-Mafia police arrest lawyer and 10 others in Sicily
Trapani — Police on Monday arrested criminal lawyer, Francesca Adamo, and ten others during major anti-Mafia raids near the western Sicilian port city of Trapani. A probe is investigating 21 people, including a local politician, for alleged Mafia association and extortion between 2006 and 2007.
Magistrates have ordered Pietro Pellerito, a local councillor for the centrist UDC party to leave the area. They claim Pellerito mediated in disputes between the bosses of various local clans.
Besides alleged Mafia association, Adamo, 44, is accused of falsely registering assets. Police phone taps also indicate she held meetings with fugitive local Mafia boss Domenico Raccuglia di Altofonte.
Vito Turan, father of the recently elected President of the Province of Trapani, Domenico Turan, is also being investigated in the ongoing probe. He is accused of Mafia association.
Italy’s conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has on two occasions this month publicly vowed to uphold the rule of law and eradicate organised crime in the country.
“We must act with determination…it is going to be a hard and relentless battle against the Mafia, the Camorra and the ‘Ndrangheta.
“We must free the south of crime and with (Italian Interior Minister) Maroni we are putting together an offensive that will soon begin,” Berlusconi announced last week.
Italy’s four main criminal organisations are the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, the ‘Ndrangheta in the southern region of Calabria, and the Sacra Corona in the southern Puglia region.
Anti-Mafia police arrest lawyer and 10 others in Sicily – 27 Oct. 2008 – AKI – This story was found at: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2639038360
