Iovine urges ex-cohorts to come clean
'Casaelesi clan has no future' says Iovine

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(ANSA) - Naples, June 13 - The most dangerous Italian mobster ever to turn State's witness urged his former cohorts to come clean on Friday. "I invite those who were close and committed these crimes with me to speak with magistrates," said Antonio Iovine, a top boss in the Naples-based Camorra whose decision to become informer made world headlines last month.
His statement was made via a video link in a trial against the former mayor of Villa Literno, a town outside Naples, and other suspects for alleged links to the Camorra. Iovine, also known as 'o ninno', is considered one of the four former bosses of the powerful Casalesi Camorra clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta, whose death threats have forced anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano, of Gomorrah fame, into 24-hour police protection.
The others are Francesco Bidognetti, Francesco Schiavone (aka Sandokan) and Michele Zagaria.
Iovine, 50, is currently serving a life sentence for multiple murder and other crimes under Italy's tough prison regime for organised criminals, the so-called article 41-bis, after being captured in November 2010 following 15 years on the run.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in January 2010 along with Bidognetti, Schiavone and Zagaria following the 12-year so-called Spartacus maxi trial against the Casalesi clan.
Saviano has hailed Iovine's "repentance" as "the biggest blow ever" against the Camorra.
Mafia experts say it is even more significant than the 1980s evidence of former top Cosa Nostra figure Tommaso Buscetta, because Buscetta's evidence, which eventually implicated late Christian Democrat statesman Giulio Andreotti, regarded events much prior to his capture.
Iovine was also in a position to keep pulling the strings despite the severe conditions of his incarceration, Camorra analysts said.
Speaking through the courtroom video-conference call Friday, Iovine said he has known since his time on the run that the Casalesi clan "had no future," a conviction that has solidified during his detention.