(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced concern about an assault on Massimiliano Pisano, a journalist based in Giardini Naxos, eastern Sicily, who had been writing about drug trafficking in the area. A correspondent for the Catania-based daily “La Sicilia”, Pisano was accosted by three thugs as he left a discotheque near Recanati on 7 August 2003 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced concern about an assault on Massimiliano Pisano, a journalist based in Giardini Naxos, eastern Sicily, who had been writing about drug trafficking in the area.
A correspondent for the Catania-based daily “La Sicilia”, Pisano was accosted by three thugs as he left a discotheque near Recanati on 7 August 2003 at 10:00 a.m. (local time). His attackers referred to his inquiries into drug dealing in local discotheques as they gave him a severe beating. He was hospitalised in Taormina and has been forced to take a 10-day leave of absence. Taormina police are investigating the incident.
“This attack is a reminder of the often mortal danger that organised crime represents for journalists in Sicily, who have to do their job in extremely difficult conditions,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said. He called on the authorities to “respond firmly to this worrying situation, so that a feeling of impunity does not take hold.”
Gino Mauro, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief in Messina, said Pisano had recently received several anonymous threats after writing several articles about local drug trafficking. Local correspondents run considerable risk, he said, adding, “We would like to have work conditions that would allow us to guarantee our readers the right to news.”
Giuseppe Alfano, a “La Sicilia” reporter who specialised in writing about the Mafia, was killed on 8 January 1993 by a shot fired into his mouth, a method of execution used by the Mafia for those deemed to have “talked too much.”
