World
'Mafia Capital' mobster trial opens in Italy
One of Italy's biggest organised crime trials in years - dubbed Mafia Capital - has opened in Rome, where councilors and gangsters allegedly stole millions of euros of public cash.One of Italy's biggest organised crime trials in years - dubbed Mafia Capital - has opened in Rome, where councillors and gangsters allegedly stole millions of euros of public cash.
A one-eyed, neo-fascist gangster called Massimo Carminati is accused of having run the criminal network. He will be questioned via a prison video-link.
According to prosecutors, mobsters flourished under Rome's former right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno.
It was a Mafia-type network, they say.
However, the operation was separate from southern Italy's traditional Mafia activities such as drug-running and extortion, anti-Mafia prosecutor Alfonso Sabella told Reuters news agency.
Forty-six defendants are on trial in the corruption case, which concerns millions of euros allegedly stolen from city hall. The suspects were arrested last December.
Gangsters allegedly conspired with local politicians to siphon off funds intended for migrant and refugee centres, and for rubbish collection in Rome and the surrounding Lazio region.