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Witness History: The businessman who defied the Italian Mafia

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The businessman who defied the Italian Mafia

06/09/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The businessman who defied the Italian Mafia

In 1991 Libero Grassi was killed in Sicily for publicly refusing to pay protection money.

In 1991, Palermo businessman Libero Grassi was killed in Sicily for publicly refusing to pay protection money to the Mafia.

In 1991, Palermo businessman Libero Grassi published an open letter in Sicily’s main newspaper denouncing the Mafia for constantly demanding extortion payments. Grassi was hailed as a hero, but his public refusal to pay was intolerable to the Mafia and a few months later he was executed in person by one of Cosa Nostra’s top bosses. Libero Grassi’s defiance is credited with inspiring a new grass-roots movement among businesses in Sicily that stands up to the Mafia. Simon Watts talks to his daughter, Alice Grassi.

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