There is a profound distance between the celebratory stories that often find space in the media and the reality of the numbers. This is what Francesco Iacopino, president of the “Alfredo Cantàfora” Criminal Chamber of Catanzaro, reports, pointing the finger at the devastating effects of a judicial system which, in recent years, has produced an unprecedented “accounting of pain”.
According to the lawyer, some media narratives have built a sort of secular liturgy around judicial investigations: “living rooms transformed into sanctuaries”, information prone to myth, ready to sacrifice its critical role “on the altar of the idols of our time”. All this – he claims – has contributed to consolidating dogmas and absolute truths, often incapable of leaving room for doubt and verification.
«Failure budget: lives and businesses reduced to rubble»
Iacopino speaks openly of a “maximum traction” justice model which should have “reclaimed Calabria from evil” but which, on the contrary, would have produced unsustainable side effects: broken lives and families, overwhelmed businesses and professions. Consequences, he underlines, from which many will never recover.
Those who in recent years have dared to question the system – he observes – have been branded as enemies of the common good. «History will judge», he reiterates, claiming the value of those who have not allowed themselves to be carried away by the mainstream.
The weight of numbers
The heart of the complaint lies in the data: as of 31 October 2025, 535 people had been compensated for unjust detention in Italy in the first ten months of the year. Of these, 126 concern Catanzaro, equal to 23.55% of the national total. The cost to the State, for this portion alone, amounts to 4,311,000 euros.
«Anything other than the national average – attacks Iacopino – these are the numbers of shame». A huge sum which, he reports, risks being left without those responsible: «As always, no one will answer. Too much incense.”
«We need a critical spirit, not rites of acclamation»
The president of the Criminal Chamber invites us to regain a clear view of the judicial system: to reflect, before transforming anyone into a vigilante to be acclaimed. And faced with the “arithmetic of reality”, he asks for a gesture of responsibility: “Someone should have the decency to apologize.”