In a Belgian newspaper I spot this weekend that in Sicily shopowners are fed up with organised crime. Coming friday will be their day of liberty; they'll chose not to pay the pizzo anymore.
Apperantly, 80 procent of shop- and restaurant owners participate under constraint in this long time extortion, which can led to 5% of the profit for the mafia.
Those who had the courage not to pay the pretection money, saw their businesses go up in flames and the wrong-doers where never caught.
Since Bernardo Provenzano has been caught, some tradespeople have gained the courage to stand up to the maffia. Some extortions were taped with secret camera's and those maffiosi are locked behind bars for the next four years. This only adds the new found courage and gives more elan to the anti-pizzo movement.
On Friday the 5th of May the anti-pizzo movement will organise a 'pizzo-free day' by selling their products in open air. "De open air is from everybody and no-one can claim protection money for that" is the notion behind the idea.
The movement calls itself 'Farewell Pizzo' and says: "People who pay protection money are a people without dignity. The newspaper La Repubblica talked about a small but significant revolution.
---- Most prolly I have made grammical errors, sorry for that!! ----
