Draft:Maria Falcone

Maria Falcone ( born 30 April 1936 Palermo) is an Italian activist , sister of the magistrate Giovanni Falcone , killed by Cosa Nostra in a bomb attack on 23 May 1992 .

Immediately after her brother's death, she contributed to the creation of the "Falcone Foundation", in order to carry out projects of education on legality in the schools and universities of the country and to promote initiatives, in Italy and abroad, to remember the figure of the judge and to raise public awareness on issues related to organised crime. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

In 2014, she was awarded the cross of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the Head of State Giorgio Napolitano .

Life

She was born in Palermo in 1936, to Arturo Falcone and Luisa Bentivegna, the second-of three children (her older sister, Anna, was born in '34, her brother Giovanni was born in '39). She graduated in Law and then taught law in secondary schools until her retirement. [ 4 ]

Since 1992 she has dedicated herself entirely to the Giovanni Falcone Foundation, which she presides over, organizing, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, University and Research , the celebrations held every 23 May in Palermo, on the anniversary of the Capaci bombing , with thousands of students who arrive from all over Italy on the “Nave della Legalità”.

She takes part in the events that are organised to remember the figure and the work of her brother. Over the years she has met thousands of young people, actively bearing witness, recounting an intense period of the fight against Cosa Nostra and educating young people on the importance of respecting the law. For three years she has been the promoter of the project “University for Legality” which involves dozens of Italian universities. The students work on projects on organised crime with research, studies and theatrical works. [ 5 ] She promotes the competition which, every year, awards 15 scholarships, financed by the Sicilian Regional Assembly , to recent law graduates from all over Sicily who want to develop works on the mafia and legality. [

Activism

In 1992, after the death of her brother in Capaci and after the Via D'Amelio bombing in which the magistrate Paolo Borsellino and his security agents died, Maria Falcone started a project aimed at keeping the memory of Giovanni Falcone alive in civil society, among young people and in institutional settings. In her role as "witness" of the magistrate's action and work, immediately after the attack, she was heard by the Higher Council of the Judiciary in plenary session, at the invitation of the then vice-president Giovanni Galloni .

In 2017, on the occasion of the declassification of the documents concerning the relations between her brother and the self-governing body of the judiciary, Maria Falcone was invited to participate in the extraordinary plenary session of the CSM [ 7 ] in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella . [ 8 ]

Her role as president of the Falcone Foundation has taken her all over the world: from Santiago de Compostela, Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Seville, to Munich, Moscow, Barcelona, ​​Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Tarragona, Paris, Washington, Bruges, Strasbourg, London, New York, Vienna.

Of particular note was her participation in the conference and ceremony held in 2013 at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to recognize the value of the work of the Falcone Foundation, and his participation in 2017 in the commemoration ceremony for the magistrate killed in Capaci, at the UN headquarters in New York, at the opening of the international debate on transnational organized crime.

Interviewed by Mollie Halpern, head of external relations for the FBI, Professor Falcone recalled the words of her brother, Giovanni, to journalists at the beginning of the mega-trial. The judge, when reporters asked him for a comment on what was an important event for the entire nation, replied: " men pass and ideas remain that will continue to walk on the legs of other men ." Video footage( EN ) The Legacy of Giovanni Falcone: Global Law Enforcement , Inside the FBI, April 3, 2013, at 04 min 28 s.

In 2017, together with the Italian representation at the European Agency for the Fight against Organised Crime Eurojust in The Hague , he took part in the ceremony to dedicate a plaque to the memory of judges Falcone and Borsellino. [ 9 ]

Then, in 2018, at the Vienna International Centre, she took part in the debate that led to the approval of the Resolution on the review mechanism of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime , better known as the “Palermo Convention”. “ Today Giovanni's dream comes true ”, she said after the unanimous vote on the revision of the Convention, a fundamental step towards making the legislation more effective. [ 10 ] [ 11 ]

As president of the Falcone Foundation, he organizes, together with the MIUR, every May 23, the anniversary of the Capaci massacre , a demonstration that involves thousands of students from all over Italy who arrive in Palermo on the "ship of legality" to meet in the bunker courtroom of the Ucciardone prison, the scene of the Maxi Trial of Palermo , to talk about the mafia with experts, magistrates and representatives of the State.