President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Prefect Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa today. It is the 41st anniversary of the Mafia attack in which he was murdered along with his wife Emanuela Setti Carraro and his escort agent Domenico Russo.
On 1st May 1982, Dalla Chiesa, who had won acclaim in fighting the Red Brigades domestic terrorists, was appointed as prefect for Palermo to stop the violence of the Second Mafia War.
Just four months later, he was murdered in Palermo on 3 September 198. The killing was carried out on the orders of bloody late Mafia boss Salvatore ‘the Beast’ Riina.
“The 41st anniversary of the attack in Via Isidoro Carini calls the whole country to the choral effort to fight against the Mafia,” Mattarella said. “The whole of Italian society must feel involved: the public institutions, educational bodies, associations”.
Meloni reiterated the State’s commitment to defeating organised crime.
“Forty-one years after the brutal Mafia attack that caused the death of Carabinieri General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, his wife Emanuela Setti Carraro and escort officer Domenico Russo, the commitment to eradicate all forms of organised crime continues unabated,” she said.
“Our deepest thanks and respect go to General Dalla Chiesa, an example of integrity and courage, and to all the servants of the State who have fallen fighting to rid Italy of the cancer of the Mafia.
“Your battle is ours and we will never back down”.
Earlier this week, Meloni visited Caivano outside Naples, a Mafia hotspot. There she also pledged to fight organised crime.
