Caltanissetta judge archives 1992 mafia inquiry as political row engulfs Scarpinato

Ruling on the 1992 massacre investigations

Caltanissetta preliminary investigations judge Santi Bologna filed a 644-page decree archiving the inquiry into unknown individuals concerning the mafia-appalti dossier as the motive behind the 1992 Capaci and Via D'Amelio bombings. The investigation examined whether the assassinations of Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo, Paolo Borsellino, and their police escorts were caused by inquiries into Cosa Nostra infiltration of public contracts. The judge concluded that while Falcone and Borsellino faced an isolated, hostile working environment in the Palermo prosecutor's office between 1990 and 1992, the investigation uncovered no standalone evidence identifying specific magistrates or business figures as moral or material co-conspirators. The decree accepted the formal dismissal request submitted by Caltanissetta chief prosecutor Salvatore De Luca. In his findings, Bologna noted a vast gap in professional capability between Falcone and Borsellino and the other magistrates operating in the Palermo office at that time.

Statute of limitations for former magistrates

The 644-page ruling also resolved a connected investigation targeting former deputy prosecutor Gioacchino Natoli, former prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone, and former Guardia di Finanza general Stefano Screpanti. The trio faced accusations of aggravated aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra by shelving a 1990s probe into Nino and Salvatore Buscemi, businessmen linked to Cosa Nostra boss Toto Riina and Raul Gardini's Ferruzzi group. Those actions occurred while the suspects served in Palermo under former chief prosecutor Pietro Giammanco. Judge Bologna declared the aiding and abetting charges extinguished due to the statute of limitations, though he described their handling of public contract files as anomalous. A separate slander allegation filed against Natoli was dismissed because the court found an absence of criminal intent.

Political fallout in the Anti-Mafia Commission

The ruling prompted conflict across Italy's Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission after Judge Bologna accused Five Star Movement Senator Roberto Scarpinato of engaging in misleading activity. The judge stated that Scarpinato contaminated proceedings by communicating with Natoli and coaching him prior to Natoli's formal hearing before the parliamentary body. Lawmakers from the governing coalition seized on the judge's assessment, calling for Scarpinato to step down from his parliamentary role. Fratelli d'Italia senator Giorgio Salvitti called the judge's findings shocking, while Forza Italia deputy and commission vice-president Mauro D'Attis described the revelations as disturbing. Fratelli d'Italia group leader Raoul Russo asserted that the findings created an unacceptable conflict of interest.

The assessments contained in the measure, and in particular the reference to his activity defined as misleading toward Dr. Natoli, require an immediate clarification from Scarpinato himself.

Scarpinato rejects allegations of interference

Scarpinato responded to the decree through a public statement, rejecting accusations of misconduct and characterizing the coalition's criticism as political bullying. The senator stated that his phone calls with Natoli were intended to ensure that Natoli testified accurately regarding a meeting held at the Palermo prosecutor's office on 14 July 1992. According to Scarpinato, magistrate Guido Lo Forte explicitly detailed the partial archiving of the contracts file during that gathering, five days before Borsellino was assassinated. Scarpinato pointed out that Judge Bologna criticized him without granting him the procedural right to be heard as a non-investigated party. He also cited earlier decisions by Judge Graziella Luparello, who ordered 43 separate investigative steps after questioning whether the contracts dossier was the sole motive for the bombings.

The statement claiming that by speaking with Gioacchino Natoli I carried out a misleading activity is not only gravely false but itself misleading.