Maxi Trial

The Maxi Trial was a criminal trial that took place in Sicily during the mid-1980s that saw hundreds of defendents on trial for a multitude of crimes relating to Mafia activities.

Aftermath

In January 1992, Falcone and Borsellino managed to take charge of further Maxi Trial appeals. Not only did they turn many appeals down, they reversed previous successful ones, resulting in many Mafiosi who had recently swaggered out of prison after their convictions were overturned being unceremoniously rounded up and put back behind bars, in many cases for the rest of their lives. This naturally angered the Mafia bosses, particularly Salvatore Riina, who had been hoping his in absentia sentence for murder would be reversed and allow him to retire in peace with his immense criminal fortune.

Related Topics:
January - 1992

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That summer, Falcone and Borsellino were murdered in audacious bomb attacks. This resulted in public revulsion and a major crackdown against the Mafia that seriously weakened the organization.

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Salvatore Riina was eventually captured, as were other Mafiosi like Giovanni Brusca. Corrado Carnevale, the "Sentence Killer", was sacked and imprisoned for being in league with the Mafia. Salvatore Lima would have probably faced a similar fate but he was murdered in 1992 for not preventing the reversal of the appeals at the start of that year.

Related Topics:
Giovanni Brusca - 1992

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Whether the Maxi Trial was a success or not is impossible to judge without taking into account subsequent events. The trial's primary success, at it's very outset, was in holding the Mafia as an organization into account for it's activities rather than just it's individual members for isolated crimes (this approach was personified in the USA via the RICO Act). However, the corrupted appeals process largely undid the work of the trial, but, although it took several years and cost the lives of two judges, the Maxi Trial eventually set off a chain-reaction that lead to a severe weakening of the Mafia and the eventual capture of those who escaped the trial's initial net, such as Riina and Brusca.

Related Topics:
USA - RICO Act

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