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The largest mafia trial in more than 30 years began in Italy on Wednesday: It began in a huge warehouse in Lamezia Terme in Calabria that had been converted into a courtroom with the reading of the names of the 355 defendants.

The well-known anti-Mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri spoke of an "important day", the so-called Maxi-Trial should, according to the will of the prosecutors, also become a show of force by the state against organized crime.

The trial is directed against the Calabrian mafia organization 'Ndrangheta, specifically the Mancuso clan.

The accused are alleged members and their alleged helpers and accomplices, including in the police, in administrations and in politics.

They are accused of murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, money laundering and abuse of office, among others.

Among the accused is also clan boss Luigi Mancuso, who has already been behind bars for 20 years.

The process will "give the world an idea of ​​what the Calabrian mafia is today," Gratteri told journalists.

"It's no longer a mafia of shepherds that kidnaps, but a huge crime syndicate."

400 lawyers, 900 witnesses

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Gratteri, who has been under police protection for his investigations for decades, was sitting in the front row of the huge room when Judge Tiziana Macri opened the trial by reading out the names of the accused.

However, due to the corona pandemic, these were not on site, but switched on via video.

They could be seen on countless screens in the huge room.

Around 400 lawyers are involved in the process, and more than 900 witnesses are to be heard.

According to the prosecution, there are also around 50 insiders among the witnesses who are willing to break their vow of silence towards the 'Ndrangheta, the so-called Omerta.

Prosecutors hope the trial will be a show of force by the state against the 'Ndrangheta, who smuggled tons of cocaine into Europe and stretched their arms around the world.

It is expected that the process will take at least a year.

“Maxi trials” against the Mafia are not without controversy

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Most of the defendants were arrested in December 2019 during coordinated night raids in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Bulgaria.

According to experts, the fact that politicians, lawyers and business people are also in the dock shows how well connected the globally operating 'Ndrangheta is in its southern Italian home region of Calabria.

The "maxi-trials" against the Mafia are not without controversy because of the difficulty of giving each of the many accused a fair trial.

However, the prosecutors argue that the wide-ranging activities of the 'Ndrangheta are difficult to negotiate in many small trials.

The size of the process that is now beginning is only surpassed by Italy's first "maxi-trial", which was conducted in Palermo in 1986/87 against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.

At that time, 338 defendants were ultimately convicted.

The prosecutors involved Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were later murdered by the mafia.