Antimafia volunteering camp in Bordighera’s confiscated assets: E!State Liberi! per le Case Libere

by Francesca Di Muro and Luna Ragozino

What is E!State Liberi!?

The volunteering camp near Bordighera organised by Libera associazioni, nomi e numeri contro le mafie, an Italian association for social promotion against the mafia, has recently come to an end. The camp is part of one of the numerous summer projects offered by the program E!State Liberi!, a series of summer volunteering camps that take place in confiscated assets and lands throughout Italy. The aim is to valorise and promote the social reuse of confiscated and seized assets from the mafias. Furthermore, its goal is to train participants on social anti-mafia issues and educate them on the dynamics of the territories concerned by the camp, through specific activities done in collaboration with social actors involved in the Libera network. E!State Liberi! is a fundamental project for the entities managing seized and confiscated assets, since the involvement of many volunteers offers an important contribution in terms of participation and promotion.

In addition, E!State Liberi! represents a great opportunity for the many young people and adults, who every summer voluntarily decide to dedicate part of their time to sustain the daily work of social cooperatives and associations in the anti-mafia networks of the territory.

E!State Liberi! is itself a pretty evocative name, referring to summer (Estate) and the imperative form of the verb ‘to be free’ (Siate liberi!), as well as the organisation itself (Libera). It clearly reflects the objective of this initiative: to raise awareness in the community and spread messages of freedom, legality, and justice.

The camp we attended took place in Bordighera, a municipality in western Liguria, inside a villa confiscated to the Pellegrino family, affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta. The latter, originally from Seminara (Reggio Calabria), who moved to Liguria in the 1970s, was in charge of drug trafficking and prostitution rings.

The confiscated assets were entrusted for the month of August to SPES Auser ONLUS from Ventimiglia, which, later on, granted the asset to Libera Imperia in order to host the volunteering antimafia camp. Numerous entities collaborated in the creation and preparation of the camp, among which we believe it is right to mention: Spi Cgil Imperia, Caritas Intemelia OdV, Associazione Pace, Lavoro e Legalità, MeWe Collaborative Living.

Objective

After having briefly illustrated the characteristics of the E!State Liberi! project, we now believe it is necessary to mention the objectives of the latter and, in particular, of the camp we attended. The property in which it took place, assigned by the municipality of Bordighera and intended for social purposes, represents enormous potential for the territory and the community itself. The villas had been totally devastated by the Pellegrino family before its confiscation. Yet, thanks to the help of numerous volunteers, the property was made habitable for the camp and, hopefully, available for future initiatives.

As a reaction to the confiscation, the Pellegrino family tore down doors, vandalised walls, cut the water system and destroyed everything in order not to make the assets recoverable and reusable.

Priority was given to the recovery of the water and electricity systems in order to make the structure habitable. Subsequently, volunteers took care of the minor damages. Thanks to its restoration, there is now hope for a future assignment, in line with the values of legality, support, and solidarity that were the backdrop to the activities that took place inside the assets during the entire month of August.

Furthermore, among the many objectives of the camp, there was the desire to create a training space for young people. Through the creation of training and educational workshops, volunteers consolidated their knowledge of the mafia, deepened the vicissitudes of the Pellegrino family and established ties with the local community, with the hope that these ties might go beyond the duration of the camp itself.

Throughout the whole camp, there was a particular desire to highlight the presence of the State in the territory to the local community. At the basis of the proliferation of criminal and mafia activities, there is a tear in the relationship between the community and the local institutions. The absence of the State ends up legitimising and assimilating criminal activities as guarantors of order and 'justice' (do-it-yourself mechanism).

Furthermore, by opening the property to the public, volunteers were able to involve local citizens on the front line and cooperate with local associations.

What did we do?

After the work of restoration of the property, the volunteers dedicated themselves to the training activities, addressing issues such as the importance of youth commitment in the anti-mafia, and how to properly commemorate the innocent victims. Several workshops were organised by volunteers, aiming at raising awareness, and creating educational material that could subsequently be distributed in local schools and to the entire community.

Initially, the volunteers dedicated themselves to cleaning the property and arranging the infrastructure to make it habitable and as comfortable as possible. In the following days, 5 workshops were set up, each focusing on different artistic sectors: narrations, podcast, theatre, video-making, photography.

The first workshop focused on creating and discussing new ways of talking about innocent mafia victims, focusing on their lives rather than their unfair deaths. Volunteers focused on the stories of the three people to whom Libera’s local bodies are dedicated: Rosario Livatino, Rita Atria and Hyso Telharaj. The second workshop created a podcast narrating the events of the Pellegrinos and the history of the confiscated property, in order to guided visitors of the assets and facilitate their understanding. The theatre workshop focused on writing and staging a dialogue between inhabitants of Bordighera - about the events of the Pellegrino family - and the importance of collective awareness to awaken minds numbed by silence and fear. The video-making laboratory produced a video summarising the entire camp. Finally, the photography workshop made a portfolio depicting the entire confiscated property, highlighting salient features and details of the assets.

Everything was presented to the community on Sunday, when the property opened to the public. Significant anti-mafia Italian figures were also present that day, such as Jole Garuti. She is the former president of the Circolo Società Civile of Milan, representative for Libera Lombardy, today part of the Committee of Guarantors. Furthermore, she directs the Study Center of "Saveria Antiochia Osservatorio Antimafia" where she organises events and educational courses on human and civil rights, on mafia and anti-mafia and on education to legality.

History of the Bordighera assets

The history of the assets, once owned by the Pellegrino family, follows back several decades. In the 1970s, the Pellegrino family relocated from Seminara, a small agricultural centre in Calabria in the South of Italy, to the North, specifically Western Liguria. The family was constituted of a father, mother, and four children. The family nucleus was led by Domenico, a modest farmer, and Vincenza De Marte, whose surname carried weight in Seminara's criminal milieu and the Imperia Province.

Their four children, Michele, Giovanni, Maurizio, and Roberto, were born between the late 1960s and the late 1970s. Despite their move, the Pellegrino family maintained a close connection with their relatives who remained in the South.

In the Riviera di Ponente, stretching from Genova to Ventimiglia, they not only solidified existing blood ties with the De Marte cousins but also joined the Barilaro family, a prominent presence in Ventimiglia's criminal landscape. In the early 1990s, Giovanni Pellegrino married Francesco Barilaro's daughter. During this period, similar to many mafia clans in the North, they shifted their activities towards legitimate investments, gradually becoming involved in the formal legal economy.

The transition to lawful markets coincided with the rapid enrichment of the entire family and a marked improvement in their living standards and social status. They entered the earthmoving sector in the Imperia province and quickly established themselves as monopolists, receiving support from local construction companies. Their success was further underpinned by their ability to forge collusive relationships with compliant or available administrators, securing contracts, work licences, sometimes even when they lacked the necessary qualifications.

Their methods were typical of mafia groups, involving the exchange of goods or services, including votes or cash benefits. Incarceration was a recurring theme in the lives of the Pellegrino brothers, as they entered and left prison on multiple occasions. As of 2020, following the "La Svolta" trial, Maurizio, Giovanni, and Roberto were respectively sentenced to ten years, ten years and six months, and eight years, for their involvement in the territorial branch of the 'Ndrangheta, rooted in Bordighera. Their assets were definitively confiscated. Domenico's son is also serving a 14-year prison sentence for a self-confessed murder.

Furthermore, the location of the asset is adjacent to a highway in the higher parts of Bordighera. It used to facilitate their drug and weapon trafficking activities. Their connections with Monaco and France serve as a reminder that the presence of the mafia knows no borders.

Importance of the assets

The story behind the confiscation of these assets is a direct continuation of their illicit history. It involves several legal phases that unfold between the arrests and the actual confiscation and subsequent reuse of the seized property, often spanning a considerable amount of time. In the case of the Bordighera asset, it was officially confiscated in September 2022 and only provisionally assigned to the Ventimiglia SPES in August 2023.

The process begins with the National Agency of Sequestered and Confiscated Assets (ANBSC), whose first task is to assess the asset's existence and location. For the Pellegrino family, several months passed between the ANBSC's initial visit and the official announcement of confiscation. The family was then given 120 days to vacate their residences. The duration of this period is usually negotiated between the ANSBC and the former owners of the assets.

Often, approaching the end of the negotiated period, the ANSBC, accompanied by various authorities—such as the police, social workers, firemen, doctors, ambulances, and local officials—carries out an unexpected intervention at the property. At that moment, discussions regard the family's immediate needs, including housing arrangements, the children's welfare, and whether they can continue residing together. However, when the local authorities arrived at the end of the 120-day period at the Pellegrino’s assets, they found that the family had already abandoned the property two days prior. The houses had been left in ruins, with water and electricity connections completely destroyed. All their possessions, including marble chimneys, windows, doors, and fences, were left behind and wrecked. If it was not theirs, it was not ours.

Future of the assets and this asset

The history of asset confiscation in Italy traces its roots back to the 1990s, following the recognition of the mafia as a criminal organisation in the Italian Penal Code in 1982. Subsequent laws were enacted to combat the mafia menace. On March 7, 1996, the Parliament approved the 109th law, proposed by Libera as a popular initiative with over one million signatures. The aim of this law was to repurpose confiscated assets by transferring ownership to NGOs or type B cooperatives, with 30% of the individuals composed of disadvantaged people, such as prisoners, people with disabilities, or minors in challenging family situations.

The social reuse of confiscated assets serves as a compelling strategy to wrest illegal gains from the mafia and return them to the community. These assets, beyond their physicality, embody crucial societal objectives. They stand as solemn tributes to the innocent victims of the mafia, offering poignant reminders that organised crime continues to loom over the Ligurian region. Additionally, they symbolise the unwavering commitment of both state and local institutions in the relentless battle against criminal organisations.

We need to consider the immense potential held by these spaces when entrusted to those who defend the good of the community. One can imagine the countless lives that could find shelter within these walls, the harvests this land could yield if cultivated for the common good. These reclaimed properties send a resounding message to citizens: legality is a force that ultimately benefits the entire community.

Individuals engaged in this endeavour are not alone, and indeed, awareness of these efforts is not as widespread as it should be in Bordighera. Silence, at times, unwittingly serves as an accomplice. Many may believe that the mafia always prevails, but confiscated assets boldly declare that organised crime can be defeated.

Every person possesses the capacity to make a meaningful difference. Numerous national, regional, and local associations are tirelessly combating the mafia on every front. Libera's E!State! Liberi camp for Case Libere (Free Houses) involves individuals participating in workshops aimed at eradicating the mafia's presence in the region.

Collective action can achieve remarkable results. When individuals collectively contribute to the cause, a significant transformation becomes possible.

The majority of the information presented in this article was gathered during the E!State Liberi! workshops conducted in Bordighera from August 24th to August 29th, 2023. We extend our gratitude to all the participants for their dedicated efforts, as well as to the Libera Imperia representatives, Maura Orengo and Annunziata Venturelli, who generously shared valuable insights and facilitated the success of these workshops.

TESTIMONIES

Here below you will find several testimonies written by students of the Sciences Po Menton campus, who, on Sunday 27 August 2023, visited the confiscated assets and met the Libera volunteers. There are impressions, reflections and thoughts that we believe are important to share with many, in the hope that the strength of honesty and change can move you readers too, just as they moved the students during their visits.

Emilie’s testimony

When the huge iron gate opened on Bordighera's camp, our first insight of the Pellegrino's property was breathtaking : a dozen policemen were posted around several villas, Christian statues and evocative symbols of power that scattered this immense domain.

The warm welcome we then received by the members of Libera association created an odd contrast between the desolation of the place and the cheerful enthusiasm of the camp. This opposition balanced the obscurity of the past with the renewal of the present and the hope for a better use of these confiscated assets in the future.

After a brief introduction speech, Luna and Francesca immediately immersed us into the Pellegrino's universe by showing different objects, pieces of newspapers and personal belongings of the family found by the members of the camp in the confiscated houses. Indeed, the first villa had been completely reorganised for the camp, whereas the 2 others were still as the Pellegrino family had left it. We saw hideouts in the walls, trapdoors under the luxurious carpets, inscriptions on the mirrors as well as broken windows and false blood... the feeling of walking through a movie staging made the experience even more powerful and instructive. I entered the camp with absolutely no knowledge of the mafia and I left it with the strong conviction that I would join Connaître la mafia association this year.

Tayga’s testimony

As a second-year student who was wondering what to do for his last year of studies in Menton, I realised that I had deeply disconnected myself from the realities of the Franco-Italian border, and its surroundings, which include both the famous Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur of France, and her less popular, but equally interesting sister, the Liguria region of Italy. While the two regions share much in common, one of the things that connects them the most, along with delicious food and beautiful nature, is the ugly phenomenon of the mafia. The mafia, which is often associated with Italy, has deep roots in the South of France and plays an active role in a wide range of sectors, which include human trafficking in Ventimiglia to money laundering in Monaco.

At the beginning of this year, thanks to the efforts provided by the partnership between Connaître la mafia and Libera (a national NGO also operating in the region) I had the opportunity to visit the confiscated home of the Pellegrino family, which had members convicted for mafia-related activity. The sumptuous villa, which was perched on a hill near the beautiful town of Bordighera, said a lot about how secure the Pellegrinos felt about their work. As multiple people informed us about how the family home was built out of materials that had been acquired by force, and that the local populace of Bordighera was still afraid to talk about their experiences with the mafia, I realized how complicated the situation truly was. The multiple Catholic icons that our group spotted in the house were a sign that the family believed that what they were doing was truly ordained by God. Another memorable piece that made me think was the Versace-themed bathroom, a symbol that I later learned was connected to the idea of the “dolce vita”, which could be translated to the Italian style “the good life”, often idealised by popular culture. Finally, I must admit that the best part of our tour around the property was the end, when we got to meet the local volunteers who worked for Libera and instilled hope and determination for a better, mafia-free future for the surrounding area.

Clara’s testimony

When I heard we were going to have the opportunity to visit the confiscated Pellegrino property in Bordighera, I was immediately interested and very curious. Before going there, I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't know the history of the Pellegrino brothers or their actions within the mafia. It was therefore a total discovery for me.

As soon as I arrived, I was immediately struck by these four majestic villas, adorned with luxury and religious symbols, which immediately created an intimidating atmosphere.

I was kindly welcomed by the Bordighera camp’s people, a warm welcome that contrasted with the special vibes of the property.

After a few explanations, we were taken on a tour of the site : Luna and Francesca showed us the interior of the villas which had been totally destroyed by the family itself: the cables were cut, the walls tagged, the floors ransacked… We also discover all the small hiding details like trap doors or hiding places in walls and lots of family's personal effects.

I felt like I was in a movie, but there was something stronger, powerful, like a visual aggression, when I saw all these marks of violence and assumed that it exists for real in our world.

Furthermore, I was surprised by certain contradictions: objects referring to religion and the criminal actions of the Pellegrino brothers, which were condemned by the Italian justice system.

I also remember that my attention was caught by a huge amount of toys, letters, and clothes belonging to the children: I immediately felt a strong feeling, torn between sadness, irony and revolt. It was obvious that the Pellegrino family used these objects to soften us up, to make us forget their actions, and I found this practice especially disgusting and distressing.

At the end of the day, I left the property with very mixed feelings, both angry and shocked, but also heartbroken to see all this brutality.

Eléonore's testimony

Visiting the seized property in Bordighera was an emotionally charged experience, intensified by the presence of law enforcement officers and the poignant sight of the former owners' personal belongings—to the point that they even had the same shampoo as me. We came to understand that organised crime was not just something we saw in movies; in fact, the family was still present on these grounds just a year ago. In addition, this visit underscored the disturbingly prominent role that religion played in the lives of those involved in criminal activities. It once again highlighted the complex interplay between faith and wrongdoing: how religion, at times, can be manipulated to justify the worst. One particularly striking facet of this experience was the clear intent to obliterate anything that might be of benefit to the individuals responsible for taking away their home. This included the deliberate disruption of access to essential services such as electricity and water, sending an unmistakably strong message of defiance against the perpetrators. However, what truly resonated with me was the genuine joy and warmth exhibited by the local people, transcending any language barriers (I am in Italian A1!). Their resilience and positivity in the face of adversity were inspiring. Additionally, I was glad to discover the admirable efforts of the NGO Libera. Through this visit and the training provided by Connaître la mafia, I gained a deeper understanding of the widespread presence of these criminal groups on the Côte d'Azur, recognizing that this issue was not isolated but deeply rooted in real-life circumstances.

All of the pictures of the article were taken by volunteers or visitors.