'It will take generations, but we will triumph over the mob'

Anti-Mafia prosecutor Di Matteo calls for courage

(ANSA) - Palermo, April 9 - Anti-Mafia prosecutor Nino Di Matteo on Wednesday said he believes the road ahead is long, but eventually justice will triumph over organized crime in Italy. Speaking at Palermo University law school on the third annual University Anti-Mafia Day, the prosecutor also said those who accuse magistrates of wanting to be media celebrities are missing the crucial point: the fight against the mafia.

"People's attention is not on prosecutors, but on their claim for truth and justice against those who would believe that power perpetuates itself, and that mafia power is inextinguishable", Di Matteo told assembled students and faculty. "I believe all this will change, even though it will take years and generations of men and women willing to place courage and dignity above their personal ambitions," said the prosecutor, who is active in an ongoing Palermo trial into alleged secret negotiations between the Italian State and the Mafia two decades ago.

Di Matteo in January came directly into the mob's crosshairs when jailed former Cosa Nostra boss of bosses Toto' Riina was recorded indirectly ordering a hit on the prosecutor. Riina is serving life sentences for his part in the extremely violent 1992 murders of anti-Mafia crusading magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino among others.

Those shocking slayings were among the crimes that allegedly induced the State to enter into secret talks with Cosa Nostra in a bid to stop attacks after a long campaign of violence that included blowing judges and prosecutors up with carbombs.