Last April 30th we joined the case as a civil party alongside a business owner and the worker who, in recent months, with Addiopizzo’s support, stood up to extortion attempts suffered in the Noce neighborhood of Palermo.
Today, our choice to be actively present in the trial is the natural outcome of our work on the ground, which led us to accompany the victims — now formally party to the proceedings — through the process of reporting.
It was, in fact, thanks to a process of listening and support carried out together with the victim and the workers of the construction firm that the decision matured to resist and refuse to give in to extortion demands.
In a short time, thanks to the victims’ cooperation, officers from the Mobile Squad and SisCo, together with magistrates from the Palermo Prosecutor’s Office, identified those responsible for the crimes, secured businesses and construction sites, and reconstructed the extortion episodes.
However, it should be pointed out that while several instances of cooperation from shopkeepers and business owners in the Noce area emerged in a short span of time, it is likely that, in this same period, other business operators in the neighborhood were also hit by the extortion racket.
To them we want to reaffirm that it is possible to resist extortion demands, and that this choice can be made safely and without being left isolated — just as shown by the stories of resistance of those who, with our support, have today become civil parties in this case.
