Udine. Envelope with 2 bullets sent to RAI reporter

Giovanni Taormina had just interviewed a “repentant”of the “ndrangheheta and he  has now been given “dynamic vigilance” protection.

On the 12^thApril 2019, the Udine Committee for Public Order and Security issued a protection measure (dynamic surveillance) for the journalist Giovanni Taormina, who works for the TgR RAI regional news service of Friuli Venezia Giulia. (see here)

The day before, in Udine, at the editorial offices in via Palmanova, the journalist had received an anonymous envelope with two bullets inside and a photo with his face circled in red and marked with an x. The envelope had been left at the entrance and had looked harmless. (see here)

THE JOURNALIST – “This unpleasant episode has only one effect on me: it pushes me to go on with my work with even more strength and determination,”the reporter told Ossigeno per l‘Informazione.

THE INVESTIGATIONS – The Police and its Scientific Department have made the initial investigations. The Udine prosecutor has activated the Trieste Anti-Mafia District Directorate. Investigators are evaluating a line of inquiry that could lead to the “ndrangheta organised crime syndicate.

WHO IS HE?- Giovanni Taormina is originally from Trapani. He worked in Rome for the Rai radio news until July 2018, when he moved to Udine, where he brought his experience as a Mafia reporter. From March 21st to 24th 2019, in four episodes, the regional TV news of Friuli Venezia Giulia broadcast a very lengthy interview that was given exclusively by a former member of the  ‘ndrangheta collaborating with the judiciary. The “pentito” spoke at length about the active presence of “ndrangheta families in the Friuli area; in Monfalcone, in Trieste and in Gorizia.

In 2016, in Rome, the journalist had received a similar threat, after several meetings with a “repentant”from organized crime in the Foggia area, for an interview that was not conducted.

SOLIDARITY – Taormina has received expressions of solidarity from Assostampa Friuli, Usigrai (the in-house trade union), Fnsi,  from Rai senior management and various politicians. ASP