Roberto Saviano on the mafia's victory in the toxic waste scandal

After an investigation lasting 13 years an Italian court has dismissed the Cassiopea toxic waste trial under the statute of limitations, letting all 95 defendants off the hook. Millions of tons of toxic waste from the north of the country were illegally disposed of in the south. This environmental scandal inspired Italian author Roberto Saviano to write his mafia novel Gomorrah. Justice has failed miserably, Saviano writes indignantly in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "It seems there is nothing more difficult than proving the north's involvement in large-scale contamination of soil in the south. ... The statistics of the Health Ministry show that the number of cancer-related deaths in the affected areas has risen by 20 percent. However a register of the cases of tumours was never kept precisely because in the context of the investigations it would have proven the direct relation between the rapid increase in cases of cancer and the piles of toxic waste. ... The statute of limitations that is allowing the Cassiopea trial to end without anyone being found guilty demonstrates the inadequacy of our judiciary, which allows injustice to win out."

» more information (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Crime, » Justice, » Italy
All available articles from » Roberto Saviano

» To the complete press review of Monday, September 19, 2011