When Justice Turns Vendetta
carmelo musumeci and clare holme | 29.07.2008 21:33 | Repression | London
'MAFIA' SOLDIERS IN ITALIAN 'STATE' PRISONS ARE DEAD-NOT-DEAD MEN BURIED IN CEMENT COFFINS AND ARE FROM THIS WEEK ON DEPRIVED ALSO OF THE RIGHT TO SPEAK -LIKE IN PRISONS OF THE 1700'S!- WHILE MANY OF THEIR COMMANDERS ARE FREE AFTER BECOMING 'PENTITI'...
WHEN JUSTICE TURNS TO VENDETTA:
THE FATE OF ‘MAFIA’ SOLDIERS IN ITALIAN ‘STATE’ PRISONS:
St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy, believed no man should be seen as a cruel and beyond help angry wolf and clearly stated that if a wolf attacks a town, some of the responsibility must fall on the town’s citizens who denied the wolf his share of food in the first place. In the saint’s footsteps walks friar Beppe Prioli who has been visiting life sentence prisoners in Italian prisons for more than 30 years. Journalist Fabio Finazzi from Bergamo, has recently written a book called ‘Brother Wolf’ in which ‘Frà Beppe’s work is explained. The book also includes many letters from inmates of the sadly famous ‘High Security’ Italian island prisons. But ‘there is nothing, no comment at all on the problem of the dead-not-dead ‘mafia’ accused prisoners held in the ‘41 Bis’ torture regime’ claims Carmelo Musumeci, spokesman for the ‘struggling life-long prisoners of Spoleto’.
Mr Musumeci, who writes stories about wolves himself –the much loved ‘Blue Thang’s adventures’ series for the children and grand children of life sentence prisoners- and has already spent more than 18 years in prison himself, also suggests that ‘Finazzi has not climbed down into the dark depths of Italian prison affairs as there is no mention of the fact that more than 500 supposedly ‘mafia’ soldiers -of which many condemned to life sentences- are buried alive in cement coffins and deprived of any rights while those who used to be in command of them are free and happy after having declared themselves ‘pentiti’. Mafia connected prisoners are not even allowed a view of the sky as the barred windows of their cells are covered by metal plates. ‘Even so called monsters should be allowed to see the stars and the moon during their life span, but most of all should be allowed to use what is a gift from heaven to all men, free or not: the voice’ Carmelo Musumeci goes on. Silence as a rule has been confirmed this week by a new rule which foresees disciplinary sanctions –punishment- for prisoners who dare to speak up! ‘They must have got the idea from some rule concerning convent life in the 1700’s’ jokes Carmelo Musumeci –who has acquired a degree in law during his stay in prison but like so many of his companions entered as an adult who could barely read and write. He then goes back to seriousness when he states that ‘these men are faced with the diabolical task of proving they are no longer dangerous without having any occasion to do so!’. Every government that has ruled Italy through the last 16 years has tried to prove its freedom from mafia connections by punishing these ‘old and dirty mafia men’ a bit more. ‘Many of them cannot even add two to two!’ Carmelo Musumeci exclaims and goes on to tell us about ’18 year old’s sentenced to life imprisonment who will live and eventually expire in jail, without any chance to change or have a life of their own ever again, like his mate Ivano Rapisarda, the baby killer from Gela, in the heart of Sicily’. People who have been used and are still being used.
‘Many of these men are completely incapable of standing up for themselves, let alone of facing their jailers’ Mr Musumeci continues. ‘They are completely institutionalised and their lives are in the hands of the anti-mafia mafia which obliges them to go on behaving as if they were already dead so as not to create a stir outside’. ‘The difference from the situations Finazzi confronts in his book and what I see and live through is that the people he tells us about had hope while the 500 ‘monsters’ held prisoners today in Italy by other ‘monsters’ have no hope at all and are denied everything, as no journalists, no friars or priests, not even God cares what will happen to them’ cries Carmelo who none the less shall go on denouncing this state of affairs though his family is begging him to shut up and worry about himself: ‘I am already in trouble,’ he states. ‘I will not give up my dignity or my conscience. They are the only freedom I have and I think it’s ironic that it should be me who is telling you about all this as it shows that I am a lot more free than many so called free men!’ Carmelo, ‘Blue Thang’ laughs.
THE FATE OF ‘MAFIA’ SOLDIERS IN ITALIAN ‘STATE’ PRISONS:
St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy, believed no man should be seen as a cruel and beyond help angry wolf and clearly stated that if a wolf attacks a town, some of the responsibility must fall on the town’s citizens who denied the wolf his share of food in the first place. In the saint’s footsteps walks friar Beppe Prioli who has been visiting life sentence prisoners in Italian prisons for more than 30 years. Journalist Fabio Finazzi from Bergamo, has recently written a book called ‘Brother Wolf’ in which ‘Frà Beppe’s work is explained. The book also includes many letters from inmates of the sadly famous ‘High Security’ Italian island prisons. But ‘there is nothing, no comment at all on the problem of the dead-not-dead ‘mafia’ accused prisoners held in the ‘41 Bis’ torture regime’ claims Carmelo Musumeci, spokesman for the ‘struggling life-long prisoners of Spoleto’.
Mr Musumeci, who writes stories about wolves himself –the much loved ‘Blue Thang’s adventures’ series for the children and grand children of life sentence prisoners- and has already spent more than 18 years in prison himself, also suggests that ‘Finazzi has not climbed down into the dark depths of Italian prison affairs as there is no mention of the fact that more than 500 supposedly ‘mafia’ soldiers -of which many condemned to life sentences- are buried alive in cement coffins and deprived of any rights while those who used to be in command of them are free and happy after having declared themselves ‘pentiti’. Mafia connected prisoners are not even allowed a view of the sky as the barred windows of their cells are covered by metal plates. ‘Even so called monsters should be allowed to see the stars and the moon during their life span, but most of all should be allowed to use what is a gift from heaven to all men, free or not: the voice’ Carmelo Musumeci goes on. Silence as a rule has been confirmed this week by a new rule which foresees disciplinary sanctions –punishment- for prisoners who dare to speak up! ‘They must have got the idea from some rule concerning convent life in the 1700’s’ jokes Carmelo Musumeci –who has acquired a degree in law during his stay in prison but like so many of his companions entered as an adult who could barely read and write. He then goes back to seriousness when he states that ‘these men are faced with the diabolical task of proving they are no longer dangerous without having any occasion to do so!’. Every government that has ruled Italy through the last 16 years has tried to prove its freedom from mafia connections by punishing these ‘old and dirty mafia men’ a bit more. ‘Many of them cannot even add two to two!’ Carmelo Musumeci exclaims and goes on to tell us about ’18 year old’s sentenced to life imprisonment who will live and eventually expire in jail, without any chance to change or have a life of their own ever again, like his mate Ivano Rapisarda, the baby killer from Gela, in the heart of Sicily’. People who have been used and are still being used.
‘Many of these men are completely incapable of standing up for themselves, let alone of facing their jailers’ Mr Musumeci continues. ‘They are completely institutionalised and their lives are in the hands of the anti-mafia mafia which obliges them to go on behaving as if they were already dead so as not to create a stir outside’. ‘The difference from the situations Finazzi confronts in his book and what I see and live through is that the people he tells us about had hope while the 500 ‘monsters’ held prisoners today in Italy by other ‘monsters’ have no hope at all and are denied everything, as no journalists, no friars or priests, not even God cares what will happen to them’ cries Carmelo who none the less shall go on denouncing this state of affairs though his family is begging him to shut up and worry about himself: ‘I am already in trouble,’ he states. ‘I will not give up my dignity or my conscience. They are the only freedom I have and I think it’s ironic that it should be me who is telling you about all this as it shows that I am a lot more free than many so called free men!’ Carmelo, ‘Blue Thang’ laughs.
carmelo musumeci and clare holme
e-mail:
clareholme@yahoo.it
Homepage:
http://WWW.INFORMACARCERE.IT
Comments
Hide the following comment
"in bocca al lupo" = an Italian saying for "Be Lucky!"
30.07.2008 13:30
The wolf or rather she-wolf adopted Romulus and Remus the mythical founders of Rome. Like the Hebraic mythical civilisation founders Cain & Abel one brother murdered the other. Anyone who has been to Rome will have had the opportunity to buy a souvenir replica of the "Lupa Capitolina" which is in fact a medieval statuette. Just like the souvenir replicas of the imperial snuff theatre or Colosseum for most of our common era history, these were not symbols of Rome. That city was we ought never forget the property of the Vatican states until the 19th century and only with the rise of Mussolini and his fascists did the SheWolf, Colosseum and SPQR appear again as reminders of an "Italian" imperial glorious past - every Fascism needs such a past.
Saint Francis and the wolf of Gubbio is almost certainly an account of an agreement between Francis and a human outlaw who was preying on the city of Gubbio just about the period the "Etruscan" shewolf bronze statue was cast (and/or) faked. Not even the most devoted antispeciesist would (I wager) extend belief and respect for and obedience to the meat-eating Christ to the lupine family of animals. Perhaps Italian families preferred to tell the story that way though, and the account of how the wolf of Gubbio wagged his tail and shook his head to agree to the saint's peace-deal became one of the enduring myths associated with Francis.
One of the mysteries of underclass social development in Europe is the contrast between those of the Iberian peninsula who ensured Anarchism its place in the continent's history and the parallel route to "organised crime" which was the supposed birth of the Mafia families in the south of Italy and the neighbouring islands.
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a capo of a US based Mafia clan who was sent to prison there in 1936. Less than 5 years later the US did a secret deal with him which saw him entrusted with the task of bringing the Mafia to power in Italy in return for clemency and tolerance in the USA complete with lots of profits and to the eventual purpose of undermining Italian communism.
In 2007 the spokesperson for the Italian life sentence prisoners mentioned in the article above, Carmelo Musumeci inspired an appeal signed by over 300 of that collective appealing to the Italian president for executions. “Mr President of the Republic, We are tired of dying a little each day. We have decided to die once only,” ....... “We ask that our life sentences be transformed into a death sentence . . . our life is totally useless and means infinite suffering. A sentence that makes the future the same as the past, a past that crushes the present and eliminates any hope for the future.”
The president of Italy could not even if he had wanted have given them their "deathwish" because no EU state employs a death penalty. President Napolitano himself was lucky as the former leader of the Italian communist party to escape extra-judicial execution during the CIA's operations which followed up the introduction of Lucky Luciano and the Mafia to Italy's government. (c/f
Italy's prisons are the most overcrowded in Europe.
Italy's life sentances are the most retributive in Europe and in no sense allow for proper review and justice which is what rehabilitation and reinsertion ought mean. But this same system affords Berlusconi immunity.
As in the time of Aesop we see that the real wolf always wears sheep's clothing and nobody ever told the story of how Francis was manipulated into bedtime stories by the sheep.
"in bocca al lupo!" = "Crepi il lupo!"
once upon a time in a land so not far away