This is the original footage from the official Totò Riina trial, the so called "maxiprocesso".
This is the part of the trial when Riina is called to face, reluctantly, Tommaso Buscetta, (former Cosa Nostra member, identified as the "south american link") whom confessions were decisive in the endless fight with "cosa nostra", and to identify the connections this criminal organization established worldwide.
This footage is not new to the internet, only it was hard to find an english subtitled version, so i thought it would have been nice to share this version for all those intrested in the trial yet not familiar with italian language (especially dialectal italian from sicily).
Here is some context:
- Salvatore "Totò" Riina is considered to be one of the most heinous criminals tied to Cosa Nostra; he had many nicknames such as "the beast" ("la belva") due to his ruthless personality as well as "Totò the short" ("u curtu") due to his height (158 cm - 5'2'').
He has also been recognized as the "boss of bosses" for his activity as supreme head of Cosa Nostra from the mid 70's until his arrest, happened in 1993. Despite his predecessors he distinguished himself for the terrorist-like techniques (including bombings and outrages) and the reckless hits of judges, policemen and influent personalities sent by him.
The result of this trial, as well as other trials he has been subjected to, tied him directly to hundreds of murders happened during his "mandate". For these and other charges he was convicted to 26 life sentences, wich he served at the Opera prison.
- On the other hand we have the former mobster Buscetta, wich was at the time of the arrest hiding in South America; he was also wanted for various charges, and once he got arrested he has decided to talk (as well as many others). His confessions helped outlining the main power dyinamics inside Cosa Nostra, the role of Riina as well as many others personalities participating the crimes.
- The many times mentioned "commission" was a full-fledged management body that the sicilian mob established for many purposes such as settle disputes between families, deal with impending problems and so forth.
- The "maxi trial", somehow accidentally, had brought out in the open the underlying world of corruption/concussion and led to expose the basis of what will later be called the "mafia-state agreement", wich involved many of the italian highest offices.
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Enjoy!
