13/01/2021 13:47
'Ndrangheta group: Italy braces for biggest mafia trial in decades
Hundreds of alleged members of Italy's most powerful mafia group are set to face justice in the country's biggest organised crime trial in decades.
The 355 suspected mobsters and corrupt officials were charged following a long inquiry into the 'Ndrangheta group.
More than 900 witnesses are expected to give evidence, and the charge sheet includes murder, drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering.
The trial begins on Wednesday and is expected to last more than two years.
It will take place in a specially modified building in the southern region of Calabria, which is at the heart of 'Ndrangheta territory.
The building, formerly a call centre in the town of in Lamezia Terme, has been converted into a fortified courtroom to make space for the hundreds of people likely to attend the proceedings. No mafia trial has been held in Italy on such a scale since the 1980s.