The day the Mafia killed Giovanni Falcone – level 3

23-05-1992

The Mafia had been part of Sicily, Italy, since 1838. After World War II, the situation got worse and its presence was felt everywhere in Palermo. Even small boys felt it. Some of them joined the Mafia when they grew up.

However, one of them didn’t join it. His name was Giovanni Falcone. He took the opposite side, thanks to the values his parents had taught him.

He studied law and became a judge. In 1978, he started to work in Palermo where the Sicilian Mafia brutally removed everybody who stood in its way.

In 1986, a group of judges led by Falcone documented the activities of the Mafia, and they were able to accuse 475 of its members and prepare a trial. At the end of the trial, 338 people were convicted, and 19 of the biggest bosses were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the biggest boss was still free.

Falcone continued his work against the Mafia. He had to be under police protection as the Mafia had already tried to kill him twice.

On May 23, 1992, Falcone and his wife arrived at Palermo Airport. The Mafia put a 500-kilogram bomb into the pipes under the road. As Falcone drove over the road, there was a huge explosion. It opened up the road and hit the car Falcone was sitting in. Falcone, his wife, and 3 policemen died.

Falcone’s death made people very angry. They took to the streets and demanded the end of the Mafia’s killings. The police arrested many Mafia members, including the biggest boss.

Difficult words: accuse (to say that you believe that somebody is guilty of a crime), trial (a legal process in a court), convicted (to prove that somebody is guilty of a crime), imprisonment (the time in prison), as (because).

What events resulted in the public's increased condemnation of the Mafia after Giovanni Falcone's death?

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