Carmine Pecorelli
Encyclopedia
Carmine Pecorelli known as Mino, was an Italian journalist, shot dead in Rome a year after former prime minister Aldo Moro's 1978 kidnapping and subsequent killing
. He was described as a "maverick journalist with excellent secret service contacts." According to Pecorelli, Aldo Moro's kidnapping had been organized by a "lucid superpower" and was inspired by the "logic of Yalta
". Pecorelli's name was on Licio Gelli
's list of Propaganda Due
masonic members, discovered in 1980 by the Italian police. In 2002, former prime minister Giulio Andreotti
was sentenced, along with Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti
, to 24 years' imprisonment for Pecorelli's murder. The sentence was thrown out by the Italian Supreme Court in 2003.
, a small municipality in the province of Isernia
. During the German occupation of Italy in World War II
he briefly enrolled in Junio Valerio Borghese
's private fascist militia Decima Flottiglia MAS
, forging contacts which would later come in handy during is career as journalist and blackmailer. After graduating in law, he began practicing as a bankruptcy lawyer
. Later he became Minister Fiorentino Sullo's head of press service, thereby starting his career as a journalist. He founded a press agency, called Osservatorio Politico (OP), which quickly became a newsletter, specializing in political scandals and publishing many first-hand stories that Pecorelli was able to obtain through his numerous contacts in the government, including in secret services. Pecorelli publicly acknowledged that his best pieces were the ones which had NOT been published on OP, due to agreements with the parts involved, which preferred to pay him hefty sums of money to ensure his silence. Pecorelli was able to describe with ease complex situations, often protecting facts and characters behind pseudonyms. For example, he referred to General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
as "general Amen," explaining that it was he who, during the weeks of Aldo Moro
's detention in the hands of his kidnappers, had informed Interior Minister Francesco Cossiga
of the location of the hideout where Moro was being detained. In 1978, Pecorelli wrote that Dalla Chiesa was in danger and would be assassinated. Dalla Chiesa was murdered four years later, in September 1982.
After Aldo Moro's 1978 assassination, Mino Pecorelli published some confidential documents, mainly Moro's letters to his family. In a cryptic article published in May 1978, Pecorelli drew a connection between Operation Gladio
, NATO's stay-behind anti-communist organization (whose existence was publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
in October 1990) and Moro's death. During his interrogations by terrorists, Aldo Moro had made reference to "NATO's anti-guerrilla activities"".
's weapon stock, concealed in the Health Ministry's basement.
Investigations targeted Massimo Carminati, member of the far-right organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
(NAR) and of the Banda della Magliana; the head of Propaganda Due, Licio Gelli
; Antonio Viezzer; and Cristiano and Valerio Fioravanti
.
On April 6, 1993, Mafia turncoat
Tommaso Buscetta
told Palermo prosecutors that he had learnt from his boss Gaetano Badalamenti
that Pecorelli's murder had been carried out in the interest of prime minister Giulio Andreotti
. The Salvo cousins, two powerful Sicilian politicians with deep ties to local Mafia families, were also involved in the murder. Buscetta testified that Gaetano Badalamenti told him that the murder had been commissioned by the Salvo cousins, as a favor to Andreotti. Andreotti allegedly was afraid that Pecorelli was about to publish information that could have destroyed his political career. Among the information was the complete memorial of Aldo Moro
, which would be published only in 1990 and which Pecorelli had shown to general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
before his death. Dalla Chiesa was also assassinated by Mafia in September 1982.
In 1999, a Perugia court acquitted Andreotti, his right-hand man Claudio Vitalone (a former Foreign Trade Minister), Badalamenti
and Giuseppe Calò
, as well as the alleged killers Massimo Carminati, one of the founder of the NAR, and Michelangelo La Barbera from the charges brought against them.
On November 17, 2002, on appeal, Andreotti and Badalamenti
were sentenced to 24 years of reclusion for Pecorelli's murder. The sentence, however, was thrown out by the Supreme Court of Cassation
on October 30, 2003.
Kidnapping of Aldo Moro
The kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro was a seminal event in Italian political history.On the morning of 16 March 1978, the day in which the new cabinet led by Giulio Andreotti would undergo the confidence vote at the Italian Parliament, the car of Aldo Moro, former prime minister and then...
. He was described as a "maverick journalist with excellent secret service contacts." According to Pecorelli, Aldo Moro's kidnapping had been organized by a "lucid superpower" and was inspired by the "logic of Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
". Pecorelli's name was on Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
's list of Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
masonic members, discovered in 1980 by the Italian police. In 2002, former prime minister Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
was sentenced, along with Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s...
, to 24 years' imprisonment for Pecorelli's murder. The sentence was thrown out by the Italian Supreme Court in 2003.
Life
Pecorelli was born in Sessano del MoliseSessano del Molise
Sessano del Molise is a comune in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about 30 km northwest of Campobasso and about 9 km northeast of Isernia...
, a small municipality in the province of Isernia
Province of Isernia
The Province of Isernia is a province in the Molise region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Isernia....
. During the German occupation of Italy in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he briefly enrolled in Junio Valerio Borghese
Junio Valerio Borghese
Prince Junio Valerio Scipione Borghese was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and was a prominent hard-line fascist politician in post-war Italy.-Early career:Junio Valerio Borghese was born in Artena, Province of Rome, Kingdom of Italy...
's private fascist militia Decima Flottiglia MAS
Decima Flottiglia MAS
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian commando frogman unit of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World...
, forging contacts which would later come in handy during is career as journalist and blackmailer. After graduating in law, he began practicing as a bankruptcy lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. Later he became Minister Fiorentino Sullo's head of press service, thereby starting his career as a journalist. He founded a press agency, called Osservatorio Politico (OP), which quickly became a newsletter, specializing in political scandals and publishing many first-hand stories that Pecorelli was able to obtain through his numerous contacts in the government, including in secret services. Pecorelli publicly acknowledged that his best pieces were the ones which had NOT been published on OP, due to agreements with the parts involved, which preferred to pay him hefty sums of money to ensure his silence. Pecorelli was able to describe with ease complex situations, often protecting facts and characters behind pseudonyms. For example, he referred to General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was a general of the Italian carabinieri notable for campaigning against terrorism during the 1970s in Italy, and later assassinated by the Mafia in Palermo.-Biography:...
as "general Amen," explaining that it was he who, during the weeks of Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
's detention in the hands of his kidnappers, had informed Interior Minister Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
of the location of the hideout where Moro was being detained. In 1978, Pecorelli wrote that Dalla Chiesa was in danger and would be assassinated. Dalla Chiesa was murdered four years later, in September 1982.
After Aldo Moro's 1978 assassination, Mino Pecorelli published some confidential documents, mainly Moro's letters to his family. In a cryptic article published in May 1978, Pecorelli drew a connection between Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
, NATO's stay-behind anti-communist organization (whose existence was publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
in October 1990) and Moro's death. During his interrogations by terrorists, Aldo Moro had made reference to "NATO's anti-guerrilla activities"".
Death
Mino Pecorelli was killed in Rome's Prati district with four gun shots. The bullets used to kill him were Gevelot brand, a peculiarly rare type of bullets not easily found on gun markets, legal and clandestine alike. The same kind of bullets were later found in the Banda della MaglianaBanda della Magliana
The Banda della Magliana was an Italian criminal organization based in Rome, particularly active throughout the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of most of its members....
's weapon stock, concealed in the Health Ministry's basement.
Investigations targeted Massimo Carminati, member of the far-right organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari was an Italian neofascist terrorist organization active from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate Francesco Cossiga, Gianfranco Fini and Adolfo Urso...
(NAR) and of the Banda della Magliana; the head of Propaganda Due, Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
; Antonio Viezzer; and Cristiano and Valerio Fioravanti
Valerio Fioravanti
Giuseppe Valerio Fioravanti is an Italian former child actor and terrorist, founder of the neo-fascist terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari....
.
On April 6, 1993, Mafia turncoat
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta was a Sicilian mafioso. Although he was not the first pentito in the Italian witness protection program, he is widely recognized as the first important one breaking omertà...
told Palermo prosecutors that he had learnt from his boss Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s...
that Pecorelli's murder had been carried out in the interest of prime minister Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
. The Salvo cousins, two powerful Sicilian politicians with deep ties to local Mafia families, were also involved in the murder. Buscetta testified that Gaetano Badalamenti told him that the murder had been commissioned by the Salvo cousins, as a favor to Andreotti. Andreotti allegedly was afraid that Pecorelli was about to publish information that could have destroyed his political career. Among the information was the complete memorial of Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
, which would be published only in 1990 and which Pecorelli had shown to general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was a general of the Italian carabinieri notable for campaigning against terrorism during the 1970s in Italy, and later assassinated by the Mafia in Palermo.-Biography:...
before his death. Dalla Chiesa was also assassinated by Mafia in September 1982.
In 1999, a Perugia court acquitted Andreotti, his right-hand man Claudio Vitalone (a former Foreign Trade Minister), Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s...
and Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe 'Pippo' Calò is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was referred to as the "Mafia's Cashier" because he was heavily involved in the financial side of organized crime, primarily money laundering....
, as well as the alleged killers Massimo Carminati, one of the founder of the NAR, and Michelangelo La Barbera from the charges brought against them.
On November 17, 2002, on appeal, Andreotti and Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s...
were sentenced to 24 years of reclusion for Pecorelli's murder. The sentence, however, was thrown out by the Supreme Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
on October 30, 2003.
See also
- Aldo MoroAldo MoroAldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
- Strategy of tensionStrategy of tensionThe strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
- Propaganda DuePropaganda DuePropaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
- Operation GladioOperation GladioOperation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...