Video of mafia killing triggers row in Italy

Oct 29, 2009, 17:32 GMT

Naples, Italy - In a controversial decision, Italian authorities on Thursday distributed a video showing a suspected mafia killing in Naples and appealed to the public for help in identifying the culprits.

The final moments in the life of convicted mobster, 53-year-old Mariano Bacioterracino, appear on the footage which was recorded by a security surveillance camera on May 11 outside a bar in the southern city.

A relaxed-looking Bacioterracino, leaning against a wall and smoking a cigarette, is approached by the killer who is wearing a peaked cap and - apparently disturbed by a woman bystander - initially walks past his victim and into the bar.

An instant later, the man is seen re-emerging from the bar and drawing a pistol from his jacket pocket. The footage shows him shooting Bacioterracino first in the shoulder and then at point-blank in the back of his neck, before calmly strolling away.

The killer is believed to have received help in identifying his victim from an accomplice who is seen walking past Bacioterracino at the beginning of the video.

Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna welcomed the decision to distribute the video which has appeared on television news broadcasts and the websites of major newspapers.

'It is right for adults to view it, because the first instrument in fighting the Camorra (the Neapolitan version of the mafia) is for citizens to be aware that we cannot go on like this,' said Carfagna, who comes from the Camorra-infested region of Campania.

But a member of public broadcaster RAI's parliamentary watchdog body, opposition centre-left Democratic Party senator Vincenzo Vita said the video could easily be viewed by children, exposing them to 'violent scenes devoid of narrative context.'

The footage 'should have had limited distribution ... with the focus on the face of the killer,' Vita said.