a child killed a police officer. Another was hired to trade large quantities of narcotics with Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers. someone who is hitman and became part of Italy’s list of most wanted criminals. Others are accused of murder, extortion and complicity in the mafia. Dramatic and difficult cases like this had piled up in Roberto Di Bella’s office until 2012, when this judge specialized. juvenile criminal law decided to carry out a venture Today it is not only recognized in Italy, but is increasingly applied in the country’s courts and studied in universities: separating gangsters’ children from their families To offer them an alternative life.
“We’re not separating them so they’ll stop loving their parents, we’re separating them so there’s a chance they won’t follow in their parents’ footsteps. having access to a different world“Go to school and then decide which path they want to take,” says Di Bella in an interview with El Periódico de Cataluña of the Prensa Ibérica group. “We also try to protect them from danger. the mark of being a child of the mafia“This is also very difficult,” he emphasizes.
program born under the name Liberi di Scegliere (He is free to choose), already involved more than 100 small He is from southern Sicily and Calabria, two Italian regions heavily affected by mafias. Little ones after separation sent to foster families It is run by volunteers or anti-mafia communities, and in some cases is transferred to other parts of the country for a period ranging from two to four years, renewable if the beneficiaries request it.
case by case
Over the years, judges have also managed to get involved. about 30 mothers. In these cases, the mother can be registered if she decides to join the mafia and separate herself from the mafia family core, or even agrees to cooperate with justice. witness protection program and even change your name. This occurs in the most extreme cases involving very young children and is achieved through cooperation between juvenile courts and ordinary courts for adults. Likewise, if parents break off their relations with the mafia, the revocation of parental authority or the revocation of measures may be considered.
“Every case studied individually and many factors are weighed,” says Di Bella. And he adds that the program, considered a “last resort,” is currently available in the Calabrian cities of Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria in Palermo and Catania, Sicily, where Di Bella is based. Today, the President of the Juvenile Court The first two locations are where the project was first tried and where ‘Ndrangheta, the most effective and dangerous mafia in Italy, operates, and the second is where the project is located. Cosa NostraSicilian criminal organization that first challenged the Italian state. Another city where it has started to be implemented, albeit to a lesser extent, is Naples, the cradle of civilization. Fight.
But not everything is simple. Just last year, financial Claudia Caramanna, who is responsible for these cases in Palermo, was threatened through an anonymous letter and last March a group of criminals broke into his office and vandalized it. Since then the prosecutor lives under escort According to Di Bella, whose story also inspired the film, the police is something that also happened to “many” other jurors participating in the project. Children of the ‘Ndrangheta (2019).
Threats and controversies
Anna Sergi, professor of criminology at the University of Essex, explains that the program has divided Italian public opinion, with some believing that family unity should not be open to discussion. Moreover, risk a minor, especially if he/she is already a teenager”I saw it as a punishment “At the same time, from the parents’ point of view, this is considered a strong intervention of the State,” he adds.
However, according to Sergi, the option of doing nothing is also dangerous. “Underage of the Mafia family core” topicskind of from a young age Radicalization in mafia subculture “It’s things that their families instilled in them, as well as exposure to violence and guns,” he argues.
That’s not the only problem. This is where most of the program’s funding currently comes from. Donations from the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) allows the initiative to remain in effect but does not allow it to be expanded to a larger number of beneficiaries. However, Sergi says, “It is remarkable that this is the first program in Italy to deal with the mafia from the family perspective,” and suggests that the feasibility of the initiative cannot be ruled out in other countries and with other groups criminals.