Italian Government
44th Anniversary of the Via Carini Massacre
“The Mafia thought it had killed a man. In reality, it had chosen to challenge the State.
On the evening of 3 September 1982, in Palermo, Carabinieri General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was assassinated together with his wife, Emanuela Setti Carraro. Shortly afterwards, State Police Officer Domenico Russo, who had attempted to return fire against the killers, was also killed.
That massacre did not claim only three lives. It struck at a principle: that no criminal organisation could take the place of the State, impose its own law, or decide who lives and who dies.
Dalla Chiesa had fought terrorism and the Mafia with professionalism, investigative intelligence, courage and loyalty to the institutions. He did so without seeking shortcuts and without backing down in the face of danger.
His story reminds us that serving the State does not simply mean wearing a uniform or holding a position. It means taking on a responsibility: defending the institutions even when doing so is difficult, even when the price may be extremely high.
“If it is true that a power exists, that power belongs only to the State, to its institutions and to its laws.”
Forty-four years after the Via Isidoro Carini massacre, those words still represent a choice of sides.
On the side of the State. Always.”
So said the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto.
