“No negotiations, this is a victory without political color” – Corriere.it

Minister Piantedosi, after the capture of the boss Matteo Messina Denaro you flew to Palermo and said: “I’m lucky”. When did you know that the lead taken was the right one?

“I learned of the arrest the moment it happened. It was reasonable to think that the incessant work that the police forces had been carrying out for some time could lead to the result as soon as possible. And I confirm that I feel like a lucky man to have experienced such an important day firsthand. The call from the president Sergio Mattarellasharing with the president Giorgia Melonithe images of the applause of the citizens of Palermo, the thought of the families of the victims of the mafia, the joy in the eyes of the women and men of the Ros, the embrace with the commander of the Arma
Teo Luzi and with the Chief of State Police Lambert Giannini
I will never forget this day.”

What’s the next move?

«The magistrates will decide it, but surely we have to find out how it worked and who kept up the mafia safety net that allowed such a long inaction. But above all I hope that this arrest will allow us to shed further light on the mafia dynamics of some of the darkest years of our history”.

Like all the other fugitive bosses, he too lived a few kilometers from home. How is it possible?

«It is possible because the mafia has enormous resources to enlist affiliates and because it continues to have so much strength and power of influence also thanks to the use of violence, blackmail and the satisfaction of exponents of fragments of society. Those that the prosecutor De Lucia has defined as belonging to the mafia bourgeoisie».

So the territory control doesn’t work?

«The control of the territory and the investigative activity have led to this extraordinary result. A very strong signal has been given to our country. The State exists and has shown that it knows how to present the bill to the criminals who are guilty of such serious crimes. Having arrived there after so many years confirms the value of the ability to protect the territory, certainly does not deny it».

Did the State negotiate the arrest of Messina Denaro?

“This arrest is a clear result, with no background. Anyone who tries to trivialize and minimize it, to question it, to mortify it, is making a serious mistake committed in bad faith. Matteo Messina Denaro put the handcuffs on only a long and hard investigative work carried out by dedicated units with traditional investigation methods without frills and fantasies. The merit and applause go to the magistrates and to all the members of the police force who have done a great job to bring many of Messina Denaro’s supporters to justice. In recent years, the State has fought for this historic result and has won by putting all its energies into the system”.

You lead the Interior Ministry in a centre-right government. Do you think it is correct to attribute this success to the political majority of the moment?

«Our country’s police forces are a team, one of the strongest in the world. We have always won and played together. As Commander Luzi underlined, the Carabinieri scored the goal of a historic victory, sought and desired by all. Also celebrated abroad. When we learned of the arrest with the police chief, we were in Ankara and I was struck by Minister Süleyman Soylu who rejoiced with us. On the other hand, the fight against crime has no borders and no political colors. It’s a win for everyone. Interpreting this success with the logic of divisions leads nowhere».

Prosecutor De Lucia stressed that the arrest was possible thanks to wiretaps. Will you stop the reform?

«Interceptions are an important and indispensable investigative tool. No one has ever questioned them for mafia crimes, least of all this government. Of course, we do not accept lessons on the legality front. We have given very clear signals on the fight against the mafia, assuming a rigorous and unequivocal position with imprisonment and providing full support to the magistrates and police forces engaged in many directions. If criticisms have sometimes been made on the instrument of interceptions, these have concerned the distorted use that has been made of them and certainly not their use in mafia investigations».

What reaction do you expect from the gangs?

“The state has never been afraid of any reactions from mafia organizations. We must already look to tomorrow, to the next criminal network to be dismantled and to the other mafiosi to be arrested. I went to Palermo to congratulate the commander general Luzi and the men and women of the Ros for this great goal achieved. This operation is not a point of arrival but the continuation towards other results».

Now there are no other Cosa Nostra super-fugitives.

«With this arrest, the page of the great fugitives of the season of mafia massacres closes. It remains a mafia fabric that has changed over the years but is just as insidious».

But the leaders are either dead or in prison. Is it the defeat of the mafia?

«Arrests of bosses, like that of Messina Denaro, are very hard blows to the traditional mafia. They are also from a symbolic point of view as they are the most powerful demonstration that there is no impunity. It is a strong message to young people also with respect to a certain narration, completely unacceptable, which tends to mythologize the role of the mafia boss all power and violence. There is still a lot to do also from a cultural point of view».