Many thousands of people marched in Naples on May 5, 2019, to honour the National Day of Remembrance and Commitment against Mafias, which has been observed yearly since 2017.
In front of the historic city hall, hundreds of buses from across Italy arrived in the main square of Naples, where the demonstrations were held. Demonstrations against organised crime were also organised in several other Italian cities. Trade unions, corporate executives, and thousands of students and family members all joined in calling for “No to organized crime.”
During the ceremony, 1,055 names of people murdered by the Mafia were recited, including civilian citizens, prosecutors, police officials, priests, business owners, trade unionists, politicians and local bureaucrats.
“Memory is our commitment to honour those who have paid with their lives for the right to their dignity as human beings opposing the inhumanity of the Mafias, the violence, the abuse of power against their own families and the community in which they live.
Memory stands for a call against indifference, to highlight that fear can be defeated through the affirmation of legality. Because fighting the Mafias means fulfilling the promise of freedom on which the life of the Republic is founded.”
President Sergio Mattarella, whose brother was killed by the Mafia in 1980
