Anti-mafia crusader Roberto Saviano receives thunderous applause in Switzerland
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Anti-mafia crusader Roberto Saviano receives thunderous applause in Switzerland
Roberto Saviano appeared at the Endorfine International Festival in Lugano on Sunday.
In his speech, Saviano explained that his work and success had a major impact on his family. After the success of his 2006 book Gomorrah, his relatives fled to northern Italy, where they lived in hiding. It was there that one of his aunts died of Alzheimer’s some time ago.
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Saviano lived in New York for several years and then returned to Italy, but he does not intend to give up. “Fight for 20 years and then let the mafia win?” asked Saviano to the audience. “Out of the question.”
“I want my words to become images for others,” said the 45-year-old, confiding that the price to pay for his life as a journalist and writer is very high. His latest book L’amore mio non muore (My love does not die) is about women in the mafia.
Criticism of the Italian media
As soon as he took the stage at the Palazzo dei Congressi, Saviano was greeted by thunderous applause. “Italy is a cesspool,” he said several times. The mills of Italian justice grind extremely slowly, lawyers give up in the fight against the mafia. The ‘Italian system’ cannot cope with all this, he summarised.
The journalist also sharply criticised his country’s media, complaining that major investigations are increasingly being replaced by ‘gossip’.
Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac
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