A serious intimidation. The car of our correspondent from Cassano Luigi Cristaldi, a Volkswagen Polo, was set on fire last night in the center of the Ionian town. The arsonists struck in Via Giovanni Amendola, completely destroying the vehicle. The attack caused alarm throughout the area. Cristaldi deals with news events in Sibaritide. This is a very serious fact which demonstrates, once again, how dangerous the situation is in that area of the province of Cosenza where a mafia super gang responsible for numerous murders and made up of exponents of the traditional ‘Ndrangheta and nomadic crime operates.
The Cdr of Gazzetta del Sud: “Very serious intimidating gesture”
Closeness and solidarity with the reporter Luigi Cristaldi were expressed by the Cdr and the entire editorial staff of Gazzetta del Sud for the cowardly act that strikes a reporter working daily in the field: “The episode will never be able to stop journalistic investigations, nor intimidate who with his work – as Luigi Cristaldi does – is deployed in defense of civil society, against crime and criminals in a complex area like that of Sibaritide. The hope is that the police will quickly shed light on what happened and on those responsible for the very serious act of intimidation committed during the night against the journalist whose car was burned in via Giovanni Amendola in the very center of the Ionian town”.
Occhiuto: full light on what happened
“Solidarity with Luigi Cristaldi, reporter for the Gazzetta del Sud, victim of serious and vile intimidation. Let full light be shed on what happened. Cristaldi continues his activity, in the name of that freedom of the press that is even more important in a territory like ours.” He writes it on X Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabria Region.
Mayor Papasso: “Cowardly act, let no one touch the freedom of the press”
I learned of the act perpetrated during the night against one of the family cars of the journalist Luigi Cristaldi and I am very sorry. They are acts of cowardice and cowardice that must be censored with strength and determination. Acts that offend and affect not only the victim but the entire community which must strongly rebel against every form of violence and every form of delinquency. Mafia actions and mafia culture itself must be eradicated and this is why the healthy forces of the city must erect a strong and consistent barrier with every force of violence and against all forms of crime. If, as seems clear, the incident was related to his activity as a journalist, what happened is even more serious. In addition to freedom of personal expression, it would also attack the freedom of the press which must never, ever, be undermined and prevented. Faced with such a hypothesis, all citizens, institutions and all democratic agencies must join together and team up against those who attack freedom and democracy. Cassano is all on the side of those who have been affected, censors and condemns the author or authors of this shameful and unspeakable gesture. I expressed solidarity with him and his family and I confirm my deep trust in the police and the judiciary and I hope that those responsible will be handed over to their country’s prisons as soon as possible.
Solidarity from the Cosenza press club
Full solidarity and closeness on the part of the Cosenza press club “Maria Rosaria Sessa” to the journalist Luigi Cristaldi, victim this night of a cowardly arson attack that destroyed his car. A very serious fact that cannot be kept quiet.
Cristaldi has been a member of the club for several years and collaborates with Gazzetta del Sud from a very difficult area. We hope that light will soon be shed on what happened.
The Journalists’ Union of Calabria: “Gestures that aim to gag freedom of the press”
“We learn with dismay and concern the news of the fire set on the car of our colleague Luigi Cristaldi, correspondent from Cassano for the Gazzetta del Sud. It is a gesture that we condemn firmly and decisively, drawing the attention of the institutions to the delicate and fundamental role played in Calabria by journalists committed every day to informing the community. These gestures which aim to put a gag on freedom of information must be repudiated by institutions and civil society which together must contribute to forming a culture of legality. We are and remain at of our colleague and of all the journalists, ensuring our active support. To Luigi Cristaldi, as we have already done personally this morning, we express our solidarity and closeness, on behalf of the entire Journalists’ Union of Calabria.
Full and convinced solidarity on the part of the Council of the Order of Calabria
The President and the Council of the Order of Journalists of Calabria also intervened on yet another act of intimidation against a journalist in Calabria: “This time it was Luigi Cristaldi, correspondent of the Gazzetta del Sud from the Sibaritide area who was targeted and author of numerous articles and reports on events of common and organized crime. During the night, unknown criminals set fire to the car, a Polo, used in Cristaldi and parked near the journalist’s home. The intervention, although rapid, of law enforcement and firefighters, was unable to prevent the car from being practically destroyed. The Order of Journalists of Calabria, in condemning yet another very serious episode, hopes that the authors of the cowardly gesture will be identified as soon as possible and brought to justice. To my colleague Luigi Cristaldi, who in any case in carrying out his work will certainly not be intimidated or influenced by what happened, the full and convinced solidarity of the President and the Council of the Order of Journalists of Calabria.
The offices of the Ministry of Culture: “Support for the courageous reporter Luigi Cristaldi”
The real mud of Calabria is not that deposited by floods, but the putrid slime in which the ‘ndrine operate. Luigi Cristaldi’s excellent work is helping to bring out a different perspective for our territories and this is annoying. The Calabrian Institutes and Offices of the Ministry of Culture – Archaeological Park of Sibari, Regional Directorate of Museums, National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, Regional Secretariat, Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape – joined by the Administrative Councilors of the Autonomous Institutes, express their solidarity and assure their support to Luigi Cristaldi, courageous reporter and collaborator of the Calabria Regional Museums Directorate and of the Sibari Archaeological Park: the passion he puts into his work cannot be stopped by a car fire.
CISL Cosenza: create critical mass to counter the pervasiveness of the gangs in all forms
«The CISL of Cosenza – he writes in a note Giuseppe Lavia, Provincial Secretary of the trade union organization – expresses his solidarity with the journalist Luigi Cristaldi, for the serious intimidation he suffered with the fire of his car in Cassano. Cristaldi is a thoroughbred reporter, a scrupulous professional, to whom goes the esteem and appreciation of the entire CISL. What struck him was yet another disturbing episode in an area, Sibaritide, in which, despite arrests and investigations, we continue to record the disturbing presence of increasingly intrusive and aggressive criminal groups that poison the social context and economy, attempting to block every path of development and emancipation. It is important, therefore, to reiterate that the healthy forces of society must together create a critical mass to act on the educational level and to combat the pervasiveness of the gangs in all forms. No one in this action – concludes the Secretary of the CISL of Cosenza – must be left alone”.