INTERVIEW
They want to make their voices heard. In Corsica, citizens gathered in two collectives fight against the recrudescence of mafia acts. One must meet on October 26 and the other on December 8. Meanwhile, a special meeting of the National Assembly of Corsica is scheduled for early November, on this subject.
Invited on Europe 1, Fabrice Rizzoli, specialist in serious crime, author of La mafia from A to Z , and co-founder of the association Crim'HALT as Alternative, poses as a spokesperson for Corsican citizens, whom he considers "in danger".
"We will not be silent anymore to talk about Mafia"
According to him, "the State must take its responsibilities" in the face of ever more frequent killings on the island. "375 homicides in the last 20 years in Corsica for 300,000 inhabitants, it is absolutely intolerable", he is indignant, adding that "it is the state that should find it intolerable and not only the citizens" .
To raise awareness, these activists, who feel helpless, have chosen the pacifist path. "The novelty is that we will no longer be silent about Mafia," says Fabrice Rizzoli.
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The specialist of serious criminality campaign for the establishment of "a crime of mafia association" (still nonexistent in France) but also for the "compulsory confiscation" of property gangsters. "The Corsican gangster's villa should have become an integration center or an agricultural cooperative where young Corsicans learn a trade", he illustrates.
Fabrice Rizzoli also insists on the need to protect citizens who are often victims of the local mafia because they are more vulnerable. "Contrary to popular belief, gangsters do not just kill each other," he says, citing recent murders of "four mayors, two lawyers, a high-ranking civil servant, two teachers, a pensioner peaceful and an activist ".
Merchants targeted by the mafia
These gangsters are not only present in real estate, casinos and big organized crime, some also invest in small businesses to launder their money. "If people do not want it, it means a lacrosse shot or a hut fire," says Fabrice Rizzoli.
Asserting that "elected officials have a fundamental responsibility" on this issue, Fabrice Rizzoli relies on "the proposed law El Haïry which will be discussed again in Parliament on November 28". "Article 4 provides that property confiscated in France may be made available to associations and foundations of public utility," he explains.
"It is imperative that elected officials demand that this bill be kept on the agenda and that it be voted," he said. "It could really change the situation in Corsica, Marseille and the Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis."