The mafia killing that ‘stained’ a nation: Italy remembers death of judge Paolo Borsellino

In a country already reeling from the killing of an anti-mafia judge, the murder just weeks later of another judge who targeted the mob, Paolo Borsellino, shocked Italy to its core.

Borsellino and five of his bodyguards were killed just before 5pm on 19 July 1992, in the Sicilian city of Palermo, when a car bomb planted by the criminal organisation Cosa Nostra exploded.

The judge was on his way to see his mother.

The murder caused outrage in Italy, coming so soon after the murder by the mafia of Giovanni Falcone. It prompted huge questions about how far the Mafia had penetrated the state. Naked anger was directed towards the mob and the country’s rulers.

Borsellino’s family refused a state funeral, demanded no politicians attend and accused leaders of failing to protect him.

At a funeral of one of the slain police officers, the anger was so high that Italy’s president, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, was jeered.

Thirty years on, some of that anger remains. The family of Borsellino are still searching for answers, but the anniversary of his his death was marked by the country’s current president, Sergio Mattarella, on Tuesday.

Mr Mattarella paid tribute to the late judge’s bravery and recognised the state’s failings in his death.

“Borsellino is a hero of the Republic,” Mattarella said in a statement. “In celebrating Borsellino’s work, his courage, his sense of duty and of the state, we must continue to search for the truth behind the mafia’s murder and intensify our commitment against them.”

“His death is a stain on our history and on our institutions, which did not know how to protect him,” added Mattarella.

Borsellino’s death came just 57 days after the killing of Falcone. Both men had dedicated their careers to dismantling the mafia and were targeted because of it.

“I have always accepted the – more than the risk – the condition, the consequences of the work I do, of the place where I do it and… how I do it,” Borsellino said in an interview with Italian journalist Lamberto Sposini just weeks before his killing.

“I accept it because I chose, at some point in my life, to do it and I can say that I knew from the beginning that I would deal with these dangers.”

Their deaths fuelled a major crackdown on Cosa Nostra, which led to the 1993 arrest of the head of the organization, Toto Riina, who died behind bars in 2017.

In Italy on Tuesday a string of events took place to commemorate the judge and his bodyguards, including demonstrations, exhibitions, theatrical performances and illuminated processions.

But in a country that continues to suffer the effects of the mafia, the lack of transparency that still surrounds the killing of Borsellino haunts and angers many.

“Many trials have been carried out, but we are still waiting to know all of the names of those who wanted the killings of 92 and 93,” said the judge’s brother Salvatore Borsellino in reference to a period of intense violence at the hands of the mafia in the early 1990s.

Over the years critics have blamed the country’s authorities for failing to keep Borsellino and Falcone safe, with many accusing the state of collusion with the mafia.

On 12 July two policemen accused of throwing the investigation into Borsellino’s murder off track were given a lighter sentence than expected, sparking widespread anger.

“It’s clear to us that many hands joined those of Cosa Nostra to commit these crimes, but those who know of these shady relationships are blackmailed into silence,” said Borsellino’s brother Salvatore.