312. Italy: Bomb Attack: Mafia or Terrorism?
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| Melissa Bassi |
Melissa Bassi, a sixteen year old girl studying at the
Francesca Morvillo Falcone vocational state school in Brindisi named after the
wife of Judge Falcone and both victims of a Mafia attack twenty years ago was
killed last Saturday morning (19th May) by a bomb explosion shortly
after she got off the bus near her school.
Two other girls are critical and five others suffering from burns.
Today was the funeral of Melissa Bassi and the Italian
Primer Mario Monti cut short his stay at the G8 meeting in Chicago to be
present at the funeral together with a substantial number of ministers. The reason for this is a clear message to the
killer that the State is present and will forcibly defend victims of Mafia or
terrorism whatever the case may be.
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| The father clutching a photo of his wife who could not be present |
In the last three days we have seen Melissa’s father,
Massimo, weep in front of the camera, unable to speak while Melissa’s mother,
Rita, is still in hospital suffering from shock- to make things worse, Melissa
was their only child.
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| The man on the security camera |
The television has divulged photos taken by a security
camera of the presumed killer showing him, among other things, activating the
remote control with his left hand, seemingly his right hand has some defect. The authorities have recognized the
individual in the camera though the face has been obscured on TV. He has of course absconded and has not been
seen since Saturday. However, his
brother is being held for questioning. And that
is all the public has been allowed to know.
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| Young people following the service in the square |
From this we can make our own hypothesis as to the motives
behind the attack. The first one is that
the bus and girls on that bus came from a town in Brindisi called Mesagne. Brindisi which is on the heel of Italy is a
sea-port town and subject to Mafia contraband, a number of which, precisely
from Mesagna, have been put behind bars, also thanks to the fact that people in
Brindisi are opening up and talking, unlike in the past where this simply was
not done. However, a woman interviewed
on TV said this is not the work of the Mafia, The Sacra Corona Unita (The
United Sacred Crown) as the main Mafia clan is known, because the Mafia do not
harm women and children- they only kill each other! This remains to be seen, however.
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| School friends giving last tribute |
The other hypothesis which the police are working on is
that the presumed killer is some kind of maniac or someone involved with
terrorism. Also he could have been sent
by someone to do the dirty work and will make it very difficult for the real instigators
to surface if he is killed beforehand.
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| The final blessing of Melissa |
Whatever the motive, whatever the hypothesis, this will not
bring back Melissa and those responsible for her death must be caught at all
costs, otherwise the State has lost and Melissa would have died in vain... this
would mean killing her a second time.
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| The wreath of white flowers sent by the President of Italy precedes the coffin carried shoulder high. |
