"How can a man who blows up a highway in order to blow someone up and dissolves his child in acid get him out of prison?" The victim's widow, Rosalia Costa, said angrily.
| Author: Yang Liqi
| Editor: Ah Ye
| Editor: Laurenger
After serving a 25-year sentence, Italian "murderous maniac" Giovanni Brusca was released from prison.
The 64-year-old, the boss of the Italian Sicily mafia, claims to have committed more than 150 murders and is extremely bloodthirsty and brutal.
For example, he detonated a half-ton bomb and killed Giovanni Falcone, a judge known for his mafia, and his wife and three bodyguards; ordered the kidnapping and strangling of the son of a "traitor" who cooperated with the police, whose body was eventually dissolved in sulfuric acid; and carried out an explosion at a tourist attraction that killed dozens of people and destroyed Italy's cultural heritage...
This vicious criminal, a prisoner who had been sentenced to life in prison, has repeatedly sought commutation of his sentence through a witness cooperation agreement with the police, and has regained his freedom after serving 25 years. As soon as the news came out, controversy broke out.
The crimes are heinous and heinous
Bruska was born in 1957 in a northern village in Sicily. The mafia in this area has a long history, dating back to the 19th century, where the notorious sicilian mafia originated.
Living in this environment, the Bruska family began with their great-grandfather,who later became the local mafia patriarch and was sentenced to life in prison for multiple homicides.
Giovanni Brusca's father, Bernardo Brusca.
Brusca "inherited his father's business" and not only became the "boss of the boss" Rina's confidant, but also became one of the most ruthless godfathers in the history of the mafia party.
In 1992, legendary Italian judge Falcone was killed by a car bombing, as was his wife and three bodyguards. The bombing was carried out by Brusca at the behest of Rina, who pressed the remote control button at the right time on the side of the road and detonated half a ton of explosives.
The scene of Falcone's bombing. Image source: Corriere della Corriere.
Falcone's death ignited popular anger over the mafia. More than a month later, his colleague Borsellino, who had worked with him on the "Operation Palermo Lightning" and the "Sicilian Trials" against the Mafia, was also murdered.
The two cases instantly triggered public opinion, and the Italian government immediately enacted a strict anti-mafia law and struck a heavy blow to suppress the mafia. Brusca's "big brother" Rina was arrested.
Two anti-black judges who were martyred successively. On the left is Falcone and on the right is Borsellino.
In retaliation for the government, Bruska subsequently participated in a series of bombings against several tourist attractions in the country, and cultural heritage such as the Uffizi Gallery was destroyed.
Because of his stocky, bearded and disheveled appearance, Brusca was known as a "pig" in mafia circles, and because of the numerous crimes he committed, he was called a "murderous maniac" by the outside world.
One of his most brutal crimes was the murder of the son of a "traitor." At the time, in order to get the testimony of di Matteo, a "traitor" who cooperated with the police, he ordered the abduction of Mateo's 12-year-old son, Giuseppe. The little boy was strangled to death after being tortured for nearly 800 days, and his body was thrown into a barrel of strong acid to dissolve. Police called the massacre "one of the most heinous crimes in the history of the Sicilian mafia".
Giuseppe before his death.
Sought commutation of sentence after arrest
In 1996, shortly after the murder of boy Giuseppe, Brusca was arrested by local police in a cottage in rural Sicily.
Earlier, the police intercepted Brusca's mobile phone call, just when a plainclothes policeman rode a motorcycle past Near Brusca's house, and this noise was heard by the police in charge of monitoring, which was located in the position of the "murderous maniac". It is reported that Bruska was having dinner with his girlfriend and brother's family at the time of his arrest.
Giovanni Brusca was arrested.
After his arrest, Bruska was taken to the police station, where dozens of police officers cheered, hugged each other and honked their car horns in celebration. When Bruska was pressed out of the police car in dirty jeans and a crumpled white shirt, someone managed to bypass the guards and punch Brusca in the face.
Brusca, who was brought to trial, confessed to committing more than 150 murders. He told prosecutors: "I am an animal and have worked for the mafia all my life. I killed more than 150 people. I can't even remember their names. ”
In 1997, Di Mateo, who could not even see the body of a child, and Brusca, the murderer, collided head-on in court proceedings. Di Matteo burst into tears as he told the judge: "I promise my cooperation, but I don't guarantee anything about this 'animal'. If you leave me alone with him for two minutes, I'll cut off his head. ”
Bruska was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
However, just when the victim's family felt a little comforted that justice had been demonstrated, Bruska became an informant and obtained a commutation of sentence through cooperation with the police.
After his arrest, Bruska reportedly began working with the police. Initially, his sincerity in "repentance" was called into question. In the first three months, much of what Bruska said was either unproven or false, leading politicians at the time to call for a tightening of the cooperative system.
But since then, he has provided valuable intelligence. In several deadly attacks during the 1980s and 1990s, Bruska became a police witness. He also testified in a case of negotiations between Italian officials and criminal gangs, exposing the deal between the government and mafia members behind the arrest of "Godfather" Riná.
According to Italian media reports, Brusca said that many leaders in the mafia were tired of the arbitrary actions of the "godfather" Rina, and they reached a secret deal with the Italian gendarmes and agents to betray Rina.
Bruska also released a fierce material. He said Rina told him during his lifetime that after Falcone's assassination, he had been engaged in indirect negotiations with Interior Minister Nicolas Mancino to reach a deal to prevent further killings. Mancino staunchly denied this, but in 2012 Mancino was summoned to court for concealing evidence of talks between the government and the mafia 10 years ago and the killings of Falcone and Borsellino.
According to the Italian media newspaper Repubblica, Brusca has been held in a prison in Rome and has asked for bail nine times since 2002, but without success. However, since 2004, Brusca has been "rewarded" for his good performance in prison and his cooperation with the authorities, allowing him to visit his family every 45 days for 1 week on "vacation".
Not only that, but he also received a commutation of his sentence. Italy's Corriere della La Venera reported in 2019 that Brusca's sentence was reduced to 26 years as a result of cooperation with the police. However, on May 31, 2021, Brusca was released from prison early.
His release from prison after serving 25 years in prison is controversial
The "murderous maniac" was set free, and the Italian people were shocked by it.
Relatives of victims are difficult to accept. Tina Montinaro, the widow of one of the bodyguards killed in the bombing that year, was furious and told the media, "The country went against our will — 29 years later, the truth of the murder is still unclear, but Brusca, who destroyed my family, has been freed." ”
Rosalia Costa, the widow of another bodyguard who was killed, argued that Brusca's cooperation with the judiciary was "just for the benefit" and not "his heartfelt choice." She questioned: "How can a man who blows up a highway to blow up a man and dissolves his child in acid get him out of prison?" ”
The boy Giuseppe's father, Di Matteo, could not find words to express his bitterness and muttered, "These people are not part of humanity at all." ”
Giovanni Brusca.
Italian politics has also reacted. "It's an unacceptable shame," Rome Mayor Virginia Raj said on Twitter.
Some politically dissident politicians also "united" at this time, condemning Brusca's release.
Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Leta, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, described himself as if he had been "punched in the stomach and unable to speak." Matteo Salvini, a far-right leader who served as interior minister in the previous government, called Brusca's early release "not the justice that Italians deserve," angrily saying: "It seems to me that a man who commits these crimes, a man who dissolves a child in acid, a man who kills Falcone, a beast, cannot be released from prison." ”
Claudio Fava, chairman of the Sicilian Anti-Mafia Committee, doubted the value of the information Brusca provided to the authorities about the 1992 Falcone attacks. "Of course, Bruska could have said more, and he could have contributed more to understanding the truth about that period," Fawa said.
However, some people also expressed understanding of the commutation of sentences.
Federico Cafiero de Lajo, the chief anti-mafia prosecutor, told Reuters: "Regardless of what people think of the atrocities he committed at the time, we have cooperated with him ... Do not forget that he provided intelligence on the bombings in Sicily and Italy. He added: "Obviously the judge thought it was the right sentence. ”
Giovanni Falcone's sister Maria Falcone also said she was saddened by the news, but she believed that Bruska had been freed for providing important mafia secrets, and that "working with the police to help capture the mafia would reduce the sentence, which is the law, and the law that my brother has always approved, should be respected."
According to The New York Times, Bruska was not the first mafia informant to regain his freedom. In 1995, Tommaso Bussetta was the first senior to break with and testify with the group in the 1980s, allowing Italian police to convict hundreds of mafia members. Under the Witness Protection Program, the former gangster was photographed enjoying years with his family on a cruise ship.
Thus, Maria Falcone, while not opposing the commutation, added that she was concerned that Brusca had kept some of the wealth that should have been confiscated by the authorities and reminded the Italian judiciary and police to monitor his lifestyle. "If he can go back and enjoy the money dripping with blood, it will be an insult."