The trial of the famous' Ndrangheta opens Wednesday morning in Italy and should last two years, with impressive figures and for good reason: on the dock are members of the Calabrian mafia but also their alleged accomplices, from all walks of life. spheres of society. 

No less than 355 defendants in the bar, 900 witnesses and 400 lawyers: it is a maxi-trial which opens Wednesday morning in Italy, and should last more than two years.

On the dock: members of the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, and their alleged accomplices, political leaders, police officers, businessmen… The whole system of the most powerful Italian mafia must be judged. 

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

3 hours to decline all identities

On the list of the accused, there is "P'tit Gros", "Blondinet", or even "La Chèvre": a litany of nicknames, already given during a preliminary hearing which took no less than 3 hours in total. , only to decline all identities.

The network is so vast that it extends its tentacles far beyond the Italian peninsula.

Drug trafficking, racketeering, homicides…: The whole range of crimes and offenses seems covered.

And some defense lawyers play it, believing that under these conditions, it is impossible to guarantee a fair trial to each accused. 

>> READ ALSO

- Mafia: the entry rite of the 'Ndrangheta decrypted

A prosecutor under police escort for 30 years

"You want us not to stop them?", Sweeps Fabrice Rizzoli, specialist in organized crime, questioned by Europe 1. "I do not think he did it on purpose, the prosecutor, when he begins his investigations and that by pulling the wire he finds a lot of Mafia accomplices. You have to understand the Italian penal system which is nevertheless one of the most successful against the Mafia, to understand that they have the best legal tools in the world. "

At the helm of this vast investigation, there is the prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, also Calabrian, and who played football in his youth with those he is now trying to convict.

A commitment that has earned him living under police escort for more than 30 years.