Roberto Saviano gets justice 17 years later: "My life has been stolen."

RomeThe Court of Appeal of Rome has confirmed this Monday the convictions of one of the bosses of the Camorra –the Neapolitan mafia–, Francesco Bidognetti, and his lawyer, Michele Santonastaso, for the threats made in 2008 against the writer Roberto Saviano and against Rosaria Capacchione, a journalist for the newspaper The Morning of Naples. These threats changed the life of the author of Gomorrah, who has since lived with a bodyguard.

Bidognetti, hood of the powerful Casalesi clan, was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, while Santonastaso received a sentence of one year and two months behind bars. Both were accused of threats aggravated by mafia methods, which occurred during one of the Camorra's most high-profile trials, known as the SpartacusThe threats against Saviano and Capacchione were contained in a document signed by Bidognetti and Antonio Iovine –another hood of the mafia who later decided to cooperate with justice - which the now convicted lawyer read during a hearing of the case.

The verdict was greeted with applause in the courtroom and tears of emotion from Saviano, who heartbrokenly hugged his lawyer. "The victory is in the proceedings (of the trial), but my life has been destroyed," he told reporters upon leaving the courtroom. "My life has been stolen from me," he lamented.

Almost 17 years of waiting

Almost 17 years have passed since that episode, which the Italian justice system acknowledged on Monday. It's also a moral victory, since in these nearly two decades, Roberto Saviano has had to confront those who criticize the writer for enriching himself through his books and articles thanks to organized crime. This criticism has been voiced by the far right, especially Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini. The latter even threatened to withdraw the writer's bodyguard when he was Minister of the Interior, as he considered his life was not in danger. Monday's sentence confirms exactly the opposite.

"16 years of legal proceedings are not a victory for anyone," Saviano declared after learning of the sentence. "Now we have official proof that they bosses, along with their lawyers, signed a proclamation in which they targeted those who recounted their criminal power. And they didn't attack politics, but journalism, insinuating that they had held journalists responsible for their convictions. And they mentioned my name and that of Rosaria Capacchione. This had never happened in a court of law, anywhere in the world," he stated.

In 2014, Bidognetti was acquitted in the first instance on the same charges, but this initial conviction was later declared null and void by the Naples Court of Appeal. The trial was then moved to Rome. 2. convicted.

The National Federation of the Italian Press and the Association of Journalists filed a private prosecution in the trial, emphasizing the symbolic nature of the case: the defense of journalism and the right to information

In an article published this Monday in The Corriere della SeraSaviano has acknowledged that today's sentence is "the most important of his life." "For years I have hated Bidognetti and his lawyer, convinced that they were to blame for my situation. But, deep down, it was me, for not separating myself from this madness. I have decided to remain, to explain, to resist," he writes, displaying the same bitterness he has shown in recent years. Recently, the writer confessed that he had tried to commit suicide years ago, while he has repeatedly asserted that if he had known what he was up against with his work, he would not have done it.