Nineteen years ago the magistrate Paolo Borsellino and five men of his escort were killed by the mafia in what is remembered as the Via D'Amelio massacre. An episode that "represented the culmination of one of the most serious and disturbing phases of the bloody offensive of organized crime against democratic institutions". These are the words of the head of state, Giorgio Napolitano, who on the anniversary of the attack sent a message to the widow of the magistrate, Agnese Borsellino.
"With the attack in via D'Amelio - continues the President - the aim was to hit both a symbol of the cause of legality which, with rigor and self-sacrifice, was carrying out investigations capable of bending the most aggressive forms of delinquency, both a man who , with his example of dedication and his moral rectitude, was mobilizing the best energies of civil society, giving them growing faith in the rule of law".
Nineteen years later, according to Napolitano, "Paolo Borsellino's sacrifice calls on the judiciary, the forces of order and all the institutions to intensify - with harmony of intent and a spirit of effective collaboration - the counteraction of the mafias and its most insidious forms of criminal aggression. That sacrifice also commits the institutions and the community as a whole to a convinced and constant effort to oppose – as I also said last year – 'attitudes of collusion and indifference with respect to the mafia phenomenon' and its pervasiveness”.
The President concludes the message hoping that “the new investigations underway will give a dutiful response to the yearning for truth and justice regarding what tragically happened as soon as possible. I renew to you, dear lady, to your children and to the families of the fallen agents, my feelings of gratitude, closeness and solidarity and those of the entire country".
