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Lorenzo Frigerio

Twenty-eighth day of memory and commitment in memory of the innocent victims of the mafia promoted by Libera, by Notice public, carried out in collaboration with Rai, with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and the contribution of the Lombardy Region and a whole series of other subjects who are really giving us a hand. The day returns to Milan after 13 years, it is the first edition with the old format, the national format. You know that since 2017 this day has been recognized by a state law, it was a battle that Libera had waged for years asking for recognition, for it to be introduced as a day recognized by the institutions and since 2017 we have multiplied the reading places, the meeting places. Then you know very well what happened, the pandemic and everything it meant and therefore this year the families of the innocent victims, who will be almost 500 from all over Italy, asked Libera to come back together.

There are some of these family members here today, I won't mention names because otherwise I will surely make a mistake and forget someone, I thank them for their presence because they have been companions and are companions on this journey of ours. I'll start immediately by giving the floor to our hosts, to the Mayor of the city of Milan, to Beppe Sala who at this stage, in these months, has activated all the offices, all the managements of the municipal administration and has truly been a great support , a great commitment on the part of the municipality of Milan. Thank you Mr Mayor.

Giuseppe Sala

Thank you thank you. All the offices, let's say there is an office which is my office which has been busy, jokes aside. Few but good but we are giving ourselves, we work hard every time there are important occasions and this is an important occasion for Milan and for our city. I certainly won't go into explaining what will happen because those who follow will do so.

However, I am not going to say thank you, thank you because I take this as an act of trust, of attention towards Milan, therefore I would like to thank Don Ciotti, the friends of Libera, of Notice public, and among other things, all the associations and institutions , the realities that will contribute to the organization of this event.

Why is it important that he is in Milan and that he returns to Milan after 13 years? Well, we cannot forget that at the center there is certainly the thirtieth anniversary of the Via Palestro massacre. 
So this is certainly one of the elements, a crucial moment in our very long history but compared to recent history and it was a tragic moment but which also marked a decisive turning point in the fight against crime and, very importantly, in the perception of the mafia danger in the city .

Furthermore, this year also marks the tenth anniversary of the granting of posthumous honorary citizenship to Lea Garofalo and of the funeral ceremony in her honor. So there are two important anniversaries but I believe that the thing that is not the most important but that encourages us to always do better and to use moments like this which are moments of testimony but also of reflection, and precisely the two things of testimony to the fact that we want to be there but also of reflection, is that with respect to the theme of the fight against corruption and against mafia infiltration, in any case Milan beyond that as you often see Milan is debated at the moment Milan which is doing well Milan which is doing badly Milan which is in this way and on the other hand, in this historical period there are many many investments in Milan, in the railway yards, in large urban projects, in the Olympics, so it is once again a phase of great financial commitment in Milan with the pros and cons. The pros are that it will be another step in the continuous changing of the skin of our city and the potential cons, but we are here to limit it, is that obviously large amounts of money also attract the large interests of the bad guys. 

So it is very important to return at this moment, I believe that beyond the opinions that may be different on everything that was found in Milan, but that there has been a notable commitment from successive administrations, so that legality was always at the center of our initiative, I think it is something clear but on the other hand we know that it is certainly not the time and never will be to pin down medals, but it is always time to continue to relaunch the work.

I was saying I don't want to anticipate anything that will happen because others who follow me will do so. 
Allow me to say, however, that these 500 people arriving in Milan is a sign, it is something very important. What will they do? They will participate in a state meeting and will participate in the ecumenical vigil in the Basilica of Santo Stefano Maggiore and then they will all be present in Piazza Duomo with us, at which time we will read one by one the 1.069, the names of the 1.069, victims of that monster called mafia. So my hope, but I'm sure it will be like this, is that Milan takes to the streets. Obviously we are also taking action in metropolitan Milan and therefore we are calling on the local municipalities to be involved, as I know that people will arrive from all over Italy, all of this to make this change that the country still needs so much possible. Thank you.

Lorenzo Frigerio

We truly thank Mayor Giuseppe Sala for the support that the city of Milan is giving to this initiative. I have to thank obviously I will lose some names along the way, I apologize from the beginning, I have to thank the Prefecture of Milan with the Prefect and also with all his officials because they have been truly supportive and will be supportive in the coming days, so such as the Police Headquarters with the State Police, the Carabinieri, the Financial Police who will then also be among those who will also physically welcome the family members arriving from all over Italy, who will be transported thanks to vehicles made available by the police forces order. And allow me to also give special thanks to the diocese which made itself available with Monsignor Delpini, here today is Monsignor Bressanna who is following us in all the organizational phases and the Public Prosecutor's Office because with Doctor Dolce who here today is the Prosecutor Viola there is a consolidated collaborative relationship that has also made many many initiatives possible. Before giving the floor to Don Luigi Ciotti, I would like to show you a preview of the spot for the Day promoted by Rai for social issues which will be broadcast between now and 21 March on all Rai networks in rotation.

Rai commercial (without music)

It is possible to revive the testimonies of women and men, girls and boys, innocent victims of the mafia. It is possible to know the stories of those who sacrificed themselves for the common good, for a living memory that nourishes our responsibility every day. The gesture of each of us is a seed that can grow truth, rights and social justice. It's possible. March 21, Day of Remembrance and Commitment in memory of the innocent victims of the mafia.

Lorenzo Frigerio

Thanks, the word to Don Luigi.

Don Luigi Ciotti

Good morning everyone and thanks for being here. I believe that we must strongly underline that today, more than ever, they must be in our country, which we love, there must be facts, it must be life, not just words that speak. Many words are tired, they have become rituals, they are repeated. In the fight against crime, mafias and corruption, it is truly necessary for everyone to take an extra step and until there is a collective awareness of the serious repercussions of the mafia plague on everyone's lives, the fight against the mafia and corruption will not be able to eradicate the evil at its root.

Despite, let us never forget, the admirable, generous effort, often paid for with many sacrifices, of the cleanup forces, of the judiciary, of many institutions. Despite the courage of individual citizens, of associations, of movements that rebelled against the power of the criminal organization. So we come to the north, we return to the north and I don't have to explain why, which you know well. Let's return to Lombardy, let's return to Milan, first of all, with a duty, the duty to grasp the positive that is there, to collect the signs of hope, which every day despite everything appear on our horizon.

We have the duty of gratitude and commitment that many, many, some lesser-known realities, which do not make a fuss, which do not make noise, but are here in the history of this region and of this city. The duty, always, first and foremost, to bring out the beautiful and positive things that exist, which are a sign that give confidence and hope. 

And so we must continue to give this hope and possibility to the work of those who work for this purpose.

Here, however, it is also necessary today to listen to the future, to make way for the future. 
The hope of being there therefore lies in being there, in assuming our responsibilities, in the serene tenacity of uniting our paths more to do more and better. I don't have to tell you that this is a difficult time, but that together it is possible. Let's not leave the institutions that are busy alone. 

We feel as citizens, as associations, as movements, as Churches, the assumption of our share of responsibility. And above all we must decide whether, when faced with evil, we always only want to deal with the symptom or go deeper. So here we are, almost two centuries that we have been talking about mafias in our country, despite the commitment and opinion of many. And then it is important to take and get to the root of the problems and not just the symptoms. It is a great cultural, educational, social and ethical challenge, alongside the work of magistrates and police forces. Not forgetting that the first enemies to fight are neutrality and mafia, of those many who say that the problem does not concern them, who find alibis, and of that superficiality that can be felt in many realities in many contexts.

Neutrality and mafia like a bad smell in a society where law counts less than force. And above all I believe that by uniting all our forces it is necessary to overturn the paradigm that draws a profound and apparently incalculable distance between individual interest and the common good. So change, not adaptations, asks in our country, but not only in our country that Italy asks for an assumption of responsibility, asks not to delegate to others what we can and must do personally, everyone. So, this is Commitment Remembrance Day. We come to Milan once again. We will do it throughout our country, as we always have. Today Libera, as you know, is present throughout Europe. In Latin America. It is present in Africa. Because it is necessary to combine two words, memory and commitment, because if this bond is severed, on the one hand commitment risks becoming a routine practice, but on the other memory risks becoming the rhetoric of anniversaries.

No, our memory, which we owe to the loved ones that you represent here, torn from your loves, from your affections, our memory is a living memory, it is a memory that must be in everyday life. It is not a celebration, it is not an event, it is not just a walk together of thousands of people. It is a moment that we really want to strongly underline, that the best way to remember is to all work harder, each in their own role and responsibilities. It is not enough to remember, but we must transform the memory of the past, that of the present into an ethics of the present, into an ethics of sharing and responsibility. Here it is now our in abeboria alive in every sense.

We will also read the names of the latest migrants, because we believe that behind all those deaths, not only in our seas, there are always games, interests, strong powers, mafias, in a broader, broader dimension. Also so as not to forget that castaways and rejections are the fruits of widespread ethical blindness and deafness. So there is a need, the ability to welcome the fears, needs, suffering and hopes of others is necessary, starting in our home, in our territories, in our cities.

I greet everyone, but I greet you in particular, family members, right? And looking at you, looking at you, right? I think of everyone else. Many will come here. There will also be delegations of family members arriving from other parts of the world, because the problem of conflict, illegality, corruption and mafias is a transversal problem on the face of the planet. But we here in our house.

This is the meaning, thanks to the city that welcomes us, to truly work together. Rai will go live, the President of the Republic will be in Casal di Principe, where Libera has lived and continues to have a strong presence for years. And at the same time, no, here, from Milan, we want to try to scratch the consciences of many Italians, stimulate them to feel that these problems cannot only be delegated to someone, but that they are also part of our commitment to our responsibility.

Lorenzo Frigerio

I'll start by giving some information which is useful but which also illustrates the complexity of these two days, then we will certainly add more information. On March 20, as was remembered, at 15 pm at the State University of Milan in the Aula Magna there will be the Family Assembly which will be closed. 
After all these years, they need to confront each other. I remember that just the week before the closure, the first closure for Covid, we were in Rome, we were in front of Piazza Montecitori, there was a delegation of them. 

Welcomed inside those buildings, they brought a series of proposals, of contributions aimed at improving the quality of life of these people who find themselves in truly distressing situations overnight, you can imagine what happens. At 18pm we will move to the Basilica of Santo Stefano Maggiore for the ecumenical vigil, presided over by Monsignor Delpini with representatives of the Churches of Milan and other religious confessions. That basilica was chosen because it is the basilica of migrants, we certainly couldn't imagine that there would be that tragedy in Cutro, but even more so that moment will be a moment around which the best energies of the city will converge, so it will be an open moment in the presence of citizens, associations and those who wish to participate in this moment of reflection and prayer with the families of the victims. As for the 21st, the procession yes. 

It will concentrate starting at 8 along Corso Venezia where it will then leave at 9. The route is Corso Venezia, Piazza San Babila, Corso Giacomo Matteotti, Piazza Filippo Meda, Via d'Alberto Catena, Piazza della Scala, Via Santa Margherita, Via Giuseppe Mangoni , Piazza del Duomo, therefore the heart of the city where we plan to arrive by 11 and from that moment there will be the reading of the names, 1069 but to which are added the recent ones of Cutro and with the interventions of the President of Public Notice and by Don Luigi. 
So that's enough for now. Obviously I have already thanked him for his presence, I now give the floor to Roberto Montà, the National President of Public Notice and the network of local authorities who promote this day with us and, and many other moments of commitment since its birth, which is almost contemporary with the birth of Libya.

Roberto Monta

Good morning everyone, greetings and thanks from Luigi Ciotti, to Beppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, to the military, civil and religious authorities present. And obviously a special thanks and greeting to the families of the innocent victims of the mafia who are here today and who we will meet next week on the streets in the heart of Milan. Greetings from the Public Notice Network, from the 529 member bodies present throughout Italy, from the 109 who are here in Lombardy, represented by Fabio Bottero who is the regional coordinator, whom I thank and greet who is here in the room. We will march once again together with the people of Libera, with the many associations, movements, groups, citizens who in some way I believe have more than ever before the need to send out precise signals. The first signal is that this emergency is not over and continues to be an emergency and I believe that being many of us on the streets of Milan we will try to bring many administrators but also many young people, citizens and associations is also a signal to those who have responsibilities institutional policies in understanding that this is an emergency that continues to exist and that excellent arrests thanks to the work of the judiciary and the police have not solved the problem. 

There is still a lot of it and there is a lot of mafia and a lot of corruption in our country, especially in Northern Italy. What is needed are concrete acts, including, for example, the need to launch the Anti-Mafia Commission after the law establishing it and there is also a need for coherence on the part of. 

Everyone has political-institutional responsibilities in making laws and making choices. There is an important discussion taking place in our country around the Contract Code. 
And there is also a need to try to raise everyone's awareness of the fact that the ruling class in our country's institutions must be carefully and carefully selected. 
281 municipalities have been dissolved due to the mafia from 91 to today, 75 several times and one also in Lombardy, demonstrating that this is not an issue that only concerns regions with a traditional mafia presence. But we will also be, in the streets of Milan, making commitments which are the commitments that, as Don Luigi recalled, we need to regenerate, strengthen, that pact that holds together good politics, good administration, institutions local with citizens, associations, communities and movements. 

We need administrators to make clear choices, let's think about the need to participate in trials, to reuse confiscated assets. 

That is, to make signs that in some way go in the direction of the innocent victims of the mafia but also of the work of this people who all come together after years. We need sensitive and attentive administrations. 
The city of Milan is an example. The theme of the training of administrators, technicians, of the need to update the technical-administrative tools, to be a first responder in infiltration phenomena, I believe is the first responsibility on which our association works. 
He has been working for years and therefore trying to keep together that good policy and that good administration which needs the concreteness of those who manage local public services, of those who manage the territory, of those who are called upon to manage, in this phase, never before in the past, huge quantities of money which is an element of great attention for the mafias and the corrupt. We will then be in this very room in the afternoon, I thank the city of Milan for also celebrating an important moment, presenting ten years of the Public Notice Charter, a new version, a document that we launched ten years ago in which we try to put together those that are, coherent behaviors and choices that administrators must adopt by making a commitment towards citizens and public opinion on these issues, which go beyond those that are the elements that in some way. 

They characterize the legislation that has been sought in this matter, but reaffirm that there is a need for coherent choices and behaviors when dealing with institutional positions. Meanwhile, this document has become a good practice recognized by the European Commission. 
We will do all this and I'll finish because the quality of our country's democracy is at stake, the quality of its economy and I believe also the quality of the credibility of politics which is being questioned more than ever at this moment with very low rates of voter participation. 
The slogan of the demonstration is possible, it is possible to produce a change. Many administrators around Italy of all affiliations try to do this every day. On March 21st we will be marching alongside Don Luigi and all the innocent victims of the mafia. 

Thank you. So, a few words about the afternoon of the 21st because once the reading of the names and the morning phase with the planned procession and speeches are finished, there will be a break for lunch for the participants who will organize themselves and divide themselves within the city, and then meet in 15 places where there will be 15 thematic seminars that we have created with the Libera network and therefore with the associations, with the world of cooperation, with the unions and at the same time there will also be a theatrical show and three rooms with screenings of investigations of the journalistic award named after Roberto Morione.

All the information regarding the day can be found on the Libera website where there are also indications regarding logistics because with Trenord on the one hand and with the local police we have created an arrivals plan which concerns the train affair but also the whole issue of buses coming from outside Lombardy and the rest of Italy.

Obviously these indications, which are very precise, very stringent, because it is a working day and therefore we must not ensure that we create as little inconvenience as possible even for commuters and people on the move, are extremely important. You can also find these on the site where you can find the contact details for the secretariat. For the matter however, given that we are a press conference I would like to remind you that, as regards the accreditation of journalists, cinematographers and photographers who intend to cover the demonstration on the 21st, they must always be accredited by the Libera website where there is a particular form to fill out.

I have certainly forgotten something but now I will give the floor to Lucilla Andreucci who is the person responsible for coordination in Milan and also a member of the President's Office. I ask her, among the things she will have to say, to also remind us on the 18th and 19th what does it happen with boys?

Lucilla Andreucci

Thank you, I feel a lot of emotions, certainly a little worried because we are at minus 7, but I also feel a lot of pride.

For 10 years I have had the privilege of being at the service of a movement that believes that this country can make it if everyone really takes a little step forward. We have done a lot and this administration has always, I remember the first March 21st with our Mayor in Piazzetta Capuana in Quarto Oggiaro because, it is true, Milan is a city that moves very fast, the first metropolitan area in Italy, but there are also areas of Milan who struggle more, who need to be illuminated. Here in the work of Libera and its associative network we have tried to intercept the needs by trying first of all to listen to them and then also act as a bridge with the Administration with the departments to try to give a voice to those who have less voice.

This morning we were in Piazza Prealpi, the square where Alea Garofalo was killed, with a crew of 25 children who were painting the wall which is promptly vandalized. I see, I hear, I speak. 
Someone wrote I don't see, I don't hear, I don't speak.

And today while we were repainting and removing the not, a child asked me but why do they do it. 

I couldn't answer, I said I don't know why they do it but I know that we will be here every time, trying to restore beauty where there is degradation, not to have self-referentiality or the gift of omnipotence but I believe that Libera has been born since it was born in these For almost 28 years, he has tried to turn on a little light inside each of us, that something can really be done and if this thing is done together, we can see the change. We went to Piazza Prealpi and Piazzetta Capuana.

We tried to teach the kids to walk through the streets of Milan with different eyes. Milan is beautiful.

I am Roman and therefore I value this compliment to the city even more. I live well, I ride my bike. But I too have learned, together with Lampi, to see the places of what Milan was, the places of torture, San Vittore, the Regina hotel, the stumbling blocks, to stumble upon them in memory in order to at least know. 

When you know you understand and then you learn that choosing becomes a value.

Here we tried to convey to the children the value of memory in the streets of Milan where your father Giorgio Ambrosoli was killed in via Morozzo della Rocca, where they killed Lea Garofalo, we put up a plaque commemorating Emanuela Setti Carraro, the walk near at our headquarters we tried to teach the kids that it's true that it's a fast-paced society but every now and then there's the value of stopping and looking around because if you manage to look around you also recognize the other, you recognize the beauty of diversity of the other and you notice things.

Dear Mayor, we did something that seems easy but it wasn't easy because the real challenge is to make what seems impossible possible. Is a world without corruption, without mafia, without shortcuts possible? We have the duty to say yes to the kids because in this resigned Italy we are talking about, an Italy that doesn't go to vote, an Italy that perhaps says things will never change, we have the responsibility but not only dictated by our Constitution , the responsibility we owe to our young people. And what was Libera's wonderful intuition?

To combine the disruptive strength of young people with the strength of adult experience, and walk together. So on March 19th a special thanks to Dr. Alessandra Dolci who is truly always with us. 

And I also say this because sometimes the kids, we also work with kids who have committed crimes, and if they saw all these uniforms they would be scared, and then already making the kids understand that the uniform is an anchor is not a punishment, this it is our commitment, it is our task. 

And so Dr. Dolci often comes to meet the kids and on the 19th we will start with a moment of sport, perhaps our perfect one will also reach us, almost 70 kids from all over Italy from the Ammuni project will come. Ammuni is a national free project that works with young people who have committed crimes, are becoming aware of it, are experiencing experiential, laboratory moments. 

Of interaction and they will come here to Milan. There is a colcone protocol therefore also sport at a national level, several sports witnesses on Sunday will post a photo with a t-shirt that we dedicate to the innocent victims of the mafia, sport does not forget you either. So we'll start by playing this game together. The kids will meet the State in the figure of Dr. Dolci, also our prefect, they will meet our family members because we all play the game for a better country on multiple fields. And then in the morning we will take them to the Shoah memorial on Track 21 in Valor. Thank you Antonella dell'acqua because she was a travel companion, thank you, we will bring them to the memory of the Shoah for the value of extended memories and this is our commitment. Dear Mayor, we gave a gift, sorry, I always get emotional, we gave a gift, so a few nights ago, a hundred kids with all the permits, even from the prefecture, because we flew a drone, they took 1500 fairy lights, put them on the arch of peace that Lea also remembers with the writing it is possible.

Each little light was dedicated to an innocent victim of the mafia because we must keep the light on many things in this country but towards March 21st on memory and on everything it teaches us. So this on our part is a commitment that you also make as city administrator to make this city possible for all the kids and for all those people, that part of Italy that wants to build bridges, that wants to throw life jackets at anyone who needs it. We think and hope that it is possible. Thank you.

Lorenzo Frigerio

Well, now there is room for questions, we are quite within the deadlines, I look at Luca La Camera, always with us, always punctual, precise, thanks Luca. So questions, questions, I tell my fellow journalists, they are the ones that normally end with a question mark, therefore not interventions, these were the interventions.

Requests. Thank you.