Cirillo kidnap
Encyclopedia
On April 27, 1981, the Red Brigades
kidnapped the 60-year-old Christian Democrat
(DC) politician Ciro Cirillo and killed his two-man escort in the garage of his Naples
apartment building. At the time Cirillo directed reconstruction efforts in Campania
devastated by the earthquake in the Irpinia region
on November 23, 1980. He was released after a controversial deal with the Camorra
.
Cirillo was a key figure in the Campanian regional DC hierarchy. He was the right-hand man of Antonio Gava
– one of the national leaders of the Doroteo faction of the DC –, responsible for appointments and public works contracts, and someone who knew a great deal about all the ‘behind the scenes’ deals of local Neapolitan politics. As the regional councillor for urban planning, he was in charge of the reconstruction after the 1980 earthquake. Cirillo was, therefore, a natural target for the Neapolitan column of the Red Brigades led by Giovanni Senzani.
After two and a half months, the Red Brigades threatened to execute Cirillo unless the Naples city government accepted demands it refused in the past. The Red Brigades demanded that the authorities requisitioned housing for thousands of Naples families left homeless by the earthquake. They also demanded increased benefits for the unemployed. None of the political demands of the Red Brigades were met and in the end they accepted that a ransom was enough to release Cirillo.
boss Raffaele Cutolo
. Publicly the Christian Democrats had refused to negotiate with terrorists, but privately leading politicians such as Antonio Gava
and Vincenzo Scotti
, and members of the secret services, such as Pietro Musumeci
, visited Cutolo in prison and asked him to negotiate with imprisoned members of the Red Brigades.
In return, Cutolo allegedly asked for a slackening of police operations against the Camorra, for control over the tendering of building contracts in Campania (a lucrative venture since the devastating earthquake in November 1980) and for a reduction of his own sentence – as well as new psychiatric test to show that he is not responsible for his actions. Both these last concessions were granted.
, his main rival in the bloody 1981-83 Camorra war between Cutolo’s Nuova Camorra Organizzata
(NCO) and the Nuova Famiglia
. When Cutolo’s main ‘military’ chief, Vincenzo Casillo
was killed in January 1983 by the allies of Alfieri, it was clear Cutolo not only had lost his political protection but the war as well.
Many other Camorra gangs understood the shift in the balance of power caused by the death of Casillo. They abandoned the NCO and allied themselves with Alfieri.
The outcome of the Cirillo kidnap stood in sharp contrast to the kidnap of the Italian former Prime Minister Aldo Moro
. When Moro was abducted by the Red Brigades in 1978, the Christian Democrats in government immediately took a hardline position: the "State must not bend" on terrorist demands. They refused to negotiate with the Red Brigades, while local Christian Democrats in Campania made every effort and even negotiated with criminals to release Cirillo, a relatively minor politician in comparison with Moro.
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
kidnapped the 60-year-old Christian Democrat
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
(DC) politician Ciro Cirillo and killed his two-man escort in the garage of his Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
apartment building. At the time Cirillo directed reconstruction efforts in Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
devastated by the earthquake in the Irpinia region
1980 Irpinia earthquake
The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in the Irpinia region in Southern Italy on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Measuring 6.89 on the Richter Scale, the quake, centered on the village of Conza, killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000 and left 300,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto...
on November 23, 1980. He was released after a controversial deal with the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
.
Natural target
Antonio Gava
Antonio Gava was an Italian politician and member of Christian Democracy...
– one of the national leaders of the Doroteo faction of the DC –, responsible for appointments and public works contracts, and someone who knew a great deal about all the ‘behind the scenes’ deals of local Neapolitan politics. As the regional councillor for urban planning, he was in charge of the reconstruction after the 1980 earthquake. Cirillo was, therefore, a natural target for the Neapolitan column of the Red Brigades led by Giovanni Senzani.
After two and a half months, the Red Brigades threatened to execute Cirillo unless the Naples city government accepted demands it refused in the past. The Red Brigades demanded that the authorities requisitioned housing for thousands of Naples families left homeless by the earthquake. They also demanded increased benefits for the unemployed. None of the political demands of the Red Brigades were met and in the end they accepted that a ransom was enough to release Cirillo.
Release
He was released after 89 days on July 25, 1981, against the payment of a ransom of one and a half billion lire, thanks to the decisive intervention of CamorraCamorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
boss Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...
. Publicly the Christian Democrats had refused to negotiate with terrorists, but privately leading politicians such as Antonio Gava
Antonio Gava
Antonio Gava was an Italian politician and member of Christian Democracy...
and Vincenzo Scotti
Vincenzo Scotti
Vincenzo Scotti is an Italian politician and member of Christian Democracy . He was Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs.-Biography:...
, and members of the secret services, such as Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
, visited Cutolo in prison and asked him to negotiate with imprisoned members of the Red Brigades.
In return, Cutolo allegedly asked for a slackening of police operations against the Camorra, for control over the tendering of building contracts in Campania (a lucrative venture since the devastating earthquake in November 1980) and for a reduction of his own sentence – as well as new psychiatric test to show that he is not responsible for his actions. Both these last concessions were granted.
Aftermath
Cutolo overplayed his hand in the Cirillo affair. His former political protectors turned and provided their support to Carmine AlfieriCarmine Alfieri
Carmine Alfieri is an Italian Camorra boss, who rose from Piazzolla di Nola to become one of the most powerful members of Neapolitan Camorra in the 1980s. As boss of the Alfieri clan, he was the undisputed head of the Camorra from 1984 until his arrest in 1992...
, his main rival in the bloody 1981-83 Camorra war between Cutolo’s Nuova Camorra Organizzata
Nuova Camorra Organizzata
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo, in the region of Campania. It was also known by the initials NCO...
(NCO) and the Nuova Famiglia
Nuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....
. When Cutolo’s main ‘military’ chief, Vincenzo Casillo
Vincenzo Casillo
Vincenzo Casillo was an Italian Camorrista and the second in command of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , a Camorra organization in Naples. His nickname was "'o Nirone" .-Second in Command:...
was killed in January 1983 by the allies of Alfieri, it was clear Cutolo not only had lost his political protection but the war as well.
Many other Camorra gangs understood the shift in the balance of power caused by the death of Casillo. They abandoned the NCO and allied themselves with Alfieri.
The outcome of the Cirillo kidnap stood in sharp contrast to the kidnap of the Italian former Prime Minister 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....
. When Moro was abducted by the Red Brigades in 1978, the Christian Democrats in government immediately took a hardline position: the "State must not bend" on terrorist demands. They refused to negotiate with the Red Brigades, while local Christian Democrats in Campania made every effort and even negotiated with criminals to release Cirillo, a relatively minor politician in comparison with Moro.