Clear words that the writer Roberto Saviano has entrusted to a video on his social channels: behind the attack on two armored vehicles on the Aurelia in San Vincenzo (Livorno) there is a gang of Sardinian robbers. A sector, says Saviano, that is in the hands of the Foggiani and the groups, as far as the Island is concerned, arriving from Sassari and Desulo.

Words that have aroused contrasting and adverse reactions, first and foremost those of the mayor of the Desulese community. But Saviano does not take a step back and states: «Is telling the story of the crime that happens in Barbagia defaming a territory? On the contrary, it is being loyal, which is what the mayor is not doing - and many others - by not telling this story».

Saviano, what made you say with such certainty that there was a Sardinian origin behind the attack?

"The operating methods and the accent that the attackers have in the video. Those who operate in those territories are Sardinian or Cerignola, Foggia organizations. Sardinian organizations have been attacking armored vehicles for decades."

The mayor of Desulo Gian Cristian Melis has taken a strong position: «A well-known investigative journalist, self-styled novelist, has entered Desulo and Sassari in the register of suspects on social media for the robbery of armored vehicles in the province of Livorno. The accusation is based on some videos, posted on social media. We are waiting to know the elements of the investigation against us. Then we will try to defend ourselves».

"The mayor is doing something very clever that is done in these cases. Pretending to defend a territory but in fact maintaining a perspective of silence. The expression self-styled novelist is the same that the Camorrista Francesco Bidognetti used towards me in a document read publicly in a courtroom. This communion of languages is interesting."

For years, as Sardinians, we have been trying to shake off the equation Sardinians-bandits. What importance does it have to give a geographical location to crime?

«Luigi Patronaggio, Attorney General of Cagliari, wrote in 2024: the phenomenon of robberies does not only concern Sassari but involves the whole of Sardinia. A phenomenon that presents several analogies with kidnappings, that puts public safety and security at risk and that has subversive anti-state connotations. Patronaggio says so, an attention that the Prosecutors themselves have shown. Giving a geographical location to crime is fundamental. This is organized crime therefore it is not a speculation on the individual who committed a murder or rape by attributing it to a community, manipulating the crime. This is structured crime that invests in the territory, controls it and infects it. Not describing the structural, political, cultural elements that link an organization to its place means not doing analysis. And it is unthinkable. It is not that here we talked about a person, as racist populism does. This is not a theft or a murder and therefore saying that the person responsible was a Sardinian or a Paduan makes no difference. On the contrary, here we are talking about articulations on the territory, about precise military behaviors. I found this emotional response to be a great trick to avoid once again addressing the criminal problem in Sardinia which is gigantic. Those who tell these things are loyal to the territory and tell of a criticality, if you remain silent you cannot resolve it and you cannot address it».

Sardinia is also much more.

"It's true that Sardinia produces beauties, but what does that have to do with it. Words must not be decontextualized. The context is the legitimacy of the discourse. If I am talking about crime, it is obvious that if I am saying that Sardinia produces criminals and not the mafia, and here I am analyzing the hierarchies, I am talking about crime. If I am talking about the Scampia feud and I say that a narco-crime is produced in Naples, it is obvious that I am talking about that. Politics and media squalor have instead sought clickbaiting on my statements. On the one hand for pure clicks, on the other for silence. A typical dynamic when you do not want to address a topic. It is very interesting, however, to understand the relationship between organized continental crime and Sardinia. The refractoriness - this is the word I used for Sardinian criminals - in structuring themselves into mafia hierarchies. A very important element. The mafia is not a Sardinian product. There are Sardinian drug traffickers, the Island is a hub of Calabrian and Neapolitan drug trafficking but it does not produce its own mafia organization. The Sardinian criminal does not submit to a boss during his life. He does not accept the rules of a boss, the constant hierarchical structure, but episodically decides to recognize a leader, to submit to a glass for individual operations. But it is not possible to have lasting mafia structures. These are the elements that I shared in the video on YouTube and it is incredible that this attitude is triggered which is omertà and camouflaged as protection of the territory".

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