This man became a vivid prototype of the hero Corrado Cattani in the famous crime series of the 80s (Octopus). First of all, Giovanni Falcone and the police commissioner, which was impeccably played by the famous actor Mekele Placido, are related to hostility and even hatred of mafia structures. Both have been waging an unequal struggle with them over the years, both die at the hands of criminals. Today, Judge Giovanni Falcone is the national hero of Italy, who put his own life and the life of his loved ones on the altar of liberating the country from the powerful criminal structure Cosa Nostra. How did a person who in his youth wanted to become a naval sailor manage to resist criminal groups led by influential bosses? Let's consider this question in more detail.
Italy ruled by the mafia
For a long time, “Cosa Nostra” occupied a dominant position in the hierarchy of the criminal world on the Apennine Peninsula.
In the mid-80s, the leaders of mafia structures tried to interfere with the country's politics with all their might, and the murder of judges, deputies and high-ranking officials was then almost an everyday occurrence. Many remember the photograph that adorned the once printed publication Spiegel (Germany) - it depicts a plate of spaghetti, above which stands a black revolver. It became clear to everyone: the mentality of “Cosa Nostra” was greatly transformed, but nevertheless there were heroes who were able to decide on an unequal fight with criminal clans.
Thunderstorm Italian Mafia
Giovanni Falcone is a native of the Sicilian city of Palermo (Italy). He was born on May 18, 1939. His father headed one of the chemical laboratories, and the family did not experience material difficulties. Having received a certificate of maturity, the young man decided to enter the naval academy in Livorno, and he succeeded. However, he soon woke up interest in the study of jurisprudence. In 1964, he got a job in the judiciary. The young man represented the magistrate in a whole series of Italian cities. Then the young Giovanni began to study the forensics textbook and intensively study the articles of the Criminal Code.
His profile of work gradually shifted from civil law to criminal law.
Judge position
At the age of 27, Giovanni Falcone became a judge in the provincial town of Trapani. Here, in the west of Sicily, like nowhere were the strong connections and authority of the Cosa Nostra. However, the newly made representative of Themis did not even think to tremble before the mafia clans, he was most outraged by the fact that criminal communities create atrocities and lawlessness, and ordinary people feel in danger, absolutely not believing that law enforcement agencies will be able to protect them. Giovanni Falcone, whose biography is familiar to many Italian detectives today, firmly believed that victory in the fight against Cosa Nostra was possible, and that the main weapon against the mafia was the coordinated work of law enforcement agencies. And of course, the criminal structures very quickly began to see the enemy in a young judge, they were especially indignant after the trial in Palermo: Falcon issued harsh sentences to 400 members of the mafia.
Naturally, Giovanni was aware of the vulnerability of his position, which was unenviable, according to many experts. Therefore, serious security measures were taken: the house where the judge lived was protected on all sides, he himself worked in a bunker, he moved around the city only with security.
"Panther with the memory of an elephant"
He soon became a legend of Sicily. However, the judge himself has repeatedly stated that he should not exaggerate his merits, since he is an ordinary person who stands guard over state interests. The leaders of the underworld called him a panther with the memory of an elephant, while there was no doubt that Giovanni Falcone was powerless against the mafia.
Confrontation intensifies
Soon, the judge, who began his career in Trapani, begins to investigate bankruptcy cases. His colleague Rocco Chinnicchi noticed how persistently and zealously Giovanni is trying to get to the bottom of the truth.
Falcone falls into the hands of a company bankruptcy case that banker Michele Sindona sold to one of the ex-members of the Christian Democratic Party. All this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Giovanni began checking the work of construction companies and the activities of officials who were suspected of bribery for issuing licenses. Naturally, after this, threats rained down once again, and they tried to drag him out for negotiations. But the judge was adamant in his intentions and continued his work.
As a result, he managed to find a thread that led to influential mafia leaders. All of them in the amount of 80 people were arrested, and the warrant for such a preventive measure was signed by Judge Gaetano Costa. Of course, Cosa Nostra does not forgive such strikes, and soon Costa is found dead.
The apogee of struggle
However, the brutal reprisal against the judge did not scare Giovanni. In the early 80s, he became part of the association of prosecutors and judges, which was engaged in the promotion of cases involving mafia structures. Falcone went to such a measure after the head of the Palermo police, Boris Giuliano, who collected a large amount of dirt on the bosses of the criminal world of Italy, was killed.
In 1982, Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was appointed prefect in Palermo, who became famous for exposing the activities of the Red Brigades. However, already after three months with a little he was killed on a crowded street, having been shot from a machine gun.
After some time, the criminals brutally crack down on Judge Rocco Chinnichchi, putting an explosive device in his car, and Falcone becomes the head of the anti-Cosa Nostra unit. The federal center is already quite tired of the atrocities of criminal communities and instructed Giovanni to open high-profile cases in which the hand of the mafia was traced. Particular attention of officials from Rome was riveted on the murder of Dalla Chiesa. And Falcone coped with this task. Representatives of the top of mafia structures again got into jail.
Detractors among colleagues
It is noteworthy that the enemies of Giovanni Falcone were not only the leaders of the underworld of Italy. His work to capture and expose the leaders of the mafia tried to nip his work colleagues. In the late 80s, several Themis ministers wrote letters of resignation in protest against a mafia fighter. But Falcone knew how easy it was to bribe a judge at times, so he did not entertain himself with vain illusions.
Murder
But, in the end, the hands of the mafia still got to their main enemy. In May 1992, Giovanni Falcone was killed. The death of a judge caused a wide public outcry. Who is the perpetrator of the murder and under what circumstances did it happen? The crime was committed by a certain Giovanni Brusca, who was a member of one of the criminal groups in Italy. It was he who pressed the remote control button. He has accounted for more than a hundred murders, so he had more than enough experience in criminal matters.
At six in the evening of May 23, 1992, three cars drove from the airport towards Palermo. In the second armored car of the cart, the ex-judge Falcone sat with his wife. The explosion occurred suddenly, shortly before the cars were to turn to the city of Capachi. As it turned out later, 600 kilogram explosives were planted in the car. After the explosion, the first car in which the bodyguards were thrown up, and it landed a few tens of meters from the highway. The second car after the explosion detached the motor. There were no survivors in two cars. The third car was damaged, but not critically.
Guilty suffered well-deserved punishment
The investigation most thoroughly investigated this resonant case. A huge number of Cosa Nostra members were brought to trial, who subsequently actively cooperated with law enforcement agencies, many of them had already served their deadlines. Only the perpetrator of the crime - Giovanni Brusca - is in prison for a flagrant murder.
Falcone remembers all of Italy. He is called the main fighter against the mafia, he is a symbol of saving the country from a monstrous hydra called “Cosa Nostra”. Traditionally, commemorative ceremonies are held in Italy in honor of a man who sometimes alone confronted a powerful criminal organization.
Regalia
Today, Italians cannot underestimate the feat accomplished by Giovanni Falcone. The awards and recognition that this man has been awarded are further confirmation of this. After death, the judge was awarded the gold medal “For Civil Valor”.
In the fall of 2006, Time printed Falcone as a true hero. In honor of the judge in Italy, streets, schools, squares and even one of the administrative districts of the capital are named. There is an airport in Palermo, which is named after the mafia fighter.
