On Tuesday, Italy commemorated judge Paolo Borsellino, who was murdered by the mafia 30 years ago, and his bodyguard Emanuela Loi, Agostino Catalano, Walter Eddie Cusina, Vincenzo Li Muli and Claudio Traina, who were also killed in the bomb attack in Palermo.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi described Borsellino as a "hero of the republic".
Together with the anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, Borsellino inflicted serious blows on the Sicilian mafia organization Cosa Nostra and its bosses and paved the way for a modern and efficient fight against organized crime, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office.
The appreciation of the work of Judge Borsellino, of his courage and sense of duty is at the same time an obligation to continue the fight against the mafia unabated.
Matthias Rub
Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.
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The bombings of May 23 and July 19, 1992 against Falcone and Borsellino in Palermo were a declaration of war by Cosa Nostra on the state.
At the same time, the murders of Falcone and Borsellino and their companions marked a turning point in the fight against organized crime throughout Italy.
At the funerals of the two prominent mafia hunters, whose names can be found on countless street signs and commemorative plaques across the country, Sicilian society demonstrated its willingness to fight against "honorable society".
The Cosa Nostra lost the open war against the Italian state, especially the Corleonesi clan led by the notorious “boss of bosses” Totò Riina.
However, the power of the southern Italian mafia organizations is by no means broken; on the contrary, they have expanded their "fields of business" and internationalized their activities.
To this day, there is a suspicion that powerful Sicilian politicians were also involved in the murder of Borsellino.