Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Priest demands that mafia reveal victims’ burial site

A crusading anti-Mafia priest on Sunday called for the feared organized crime mob to reveal where it has buried the bodies of its numerous victims.

Published: 20 March 2017 08:58 CET
Updated: 20 March 2017 16:22 CET
Priest demands that mafia reveal victims' burial site
Don Luigi Cotti, founder of Libera, an Italian association against the Mafia. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP

Father Luigi Ciotti, founder of Libera, the main association in Italy involved in recovering goods stolen by the Mafia, organized a remembrance day for victims in the southern town of Locri.

Among the families of the victims present was Italian President Sergio Mattarella who lost his brother Piersanti to mob violence.

“Men and women of the Mafia, tell us at least where you have buried the victims of these families who have never had the chance to cry over their graves,” Ciotti said in a speech broadcast on Italian television, denouncing the country's “Mafia plague”.

Mattarella noted that “Italy has made some progress in the fight against the Mafia, but it must not stop.”

“As Giovanni Falcone said, 'The fight against the mafia can't stop in one room, it must include the whole building,” the president added, quoting the famous anti-Mafia judge who was assassinated by the Sicilian mob in 1992.

He also spoke about the need to eliminate “complicity” with the mafia which he called “fertile ground for corruption”.

Currently dozens of Rome politicians and business figures are on trial in a case known as Mafia Capitale while a recent report by the national unit that fights organized crime said 904 people were arrested on corruption charges in the first half of 2016.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

CRIME

REVEALED: Where in Italy you’re most likely to be a victim of crime

From theft and home burglary to cyber fraud and extortion, the latest figures reveal where in Italy you are most likely to fall victim to crime and the most common types of offences in major cities around the country.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:15 CEST
REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings. 

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023. 

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital. 

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively. 

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019. 

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”. 

SHOW COMMENTS