Death threats to Foundation in memory of journalists killed

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Mural writing at centre entitled to Luchetta, Ota, D’Angelo and Hrovatin that assists children wounded in war

OSSIGENO 12th September 2022 – “Morite Luchetta” and “Death to blacks”. These anonymous writings were discovered on the morning of 23rd July 2022 (read here) on the outer wall of the ‘Elide’ collection centre in Trieste. The threats are addressed to black immigrants and to the Centre that assists them, created by the Luchetta Ota D’Angelo Hrovatin Foundation, named after the journalist Marco Luchetta and the TV media workers Alessandro Ota and Dario D’Angelo, all three of the state broadcaster’s Trieste base, killed by a mortar shell on January 28th 1994 in Mostar, Bosnia, where they were sent to report. Miran Hrovatin, on the other hand, is the Rai TV videographer who was assassinated in an ambush in Mogadishu in Somalia on March 20th 1994 together with the journalist Ilaria Alpi. Their stories were recounted by Ossigeno on the website ‘They were searching for the truth‘. The Trieste office of the state police’s Special Branch is investigating the incident.

THE FOUNDATION – Established immediately after the death of the members of the RAI troupe of Trieste on the initiative of friends and family who decided to remember tangibly their sacrifice, the Foundation has set itself the mission of guaranteeing care for children injured in war or affected by untreatable diseases in their countries of origin. The first to be evacuated and treated was little Zlatko, whom Marco Luchetta, Alessandro Ota and Dario D’Angelo saved by shielding him with their bodies. Over the years, the charity has opened three reception centres. One is the “Elide”, on the walls of which the threats appeared. The Foundation commented on the deliberate location of the violent slogans on a place of solidarity – “which since 2009 has collected and redistributed to people in need, Italians and foreigners, without distinction, the goods that are donated by the citizens of Trieste”.

DANIELA SCHIFANI CORFINI – Since 2013 the president of the Foundation has been Daniela Schifani Corfini, the widow of the journalist Marco Luchetta. She told Ossigeno: “It is very difficult for me to comment on something like this, because I find it hard to understand what is going on in the heads of those who vent their anger and frustrations against those who do good. I prefer to highlight how, in the face of those threats, the Foundation has received numerous attestations of solidarity which, once again, have made us realise how the closeness and affection of others can make you feel strong and give you the feeling of doing part of a better world that no threat can dent ”.

SOLIDARITY – Ossigeno per l’informazione, always close to the families of journalists and operators killed for their work, condemns this cowardly attack, hoping that the investigations will be able to quickly identify the perpetrators and block the threats. Furthermore Ossigeno expresses solidarity to and appreciation of the Luchetta Ota D’Angelo Hrovatin Foundation which has found a way to keep alive the memory of four Italian journalists and media workers killed for their work by creating organisations that selflessly help children fleeing wars and the weakest and in most need of assistance. Solidarity was also expressed by the Order of Journalists and Assostampa Friuli Venezia Giulia, Leali delle Notizie, Article 21, Obc Transeuropa think tank, and the regional Catholic press Ucsi Fvg, who all expressed bewilderment and concern for what happened. LT wt