Nicola Gratteri he is the new prosecutor of Naples. This was decided by a majority of the plenum of the Superior Council of the Judiciary. Gratteri, current prosecutor of Catanzaro, prevailed over magistrates Giuseppe Amato (prosecutor of Bologna) and Rosa Volpe (magistrate in Naples, who until a few months ago headed the Naples investigative office as acting). 19 votes were cast in his favor.
Sixty-five years old, Gratteri has been in the judiciary since 1989. He takes over the leadership of the Naples prosecutor's office from Giovanni Melillo, who in the summer of last year was appointed by the CSM to lead the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate (DNA). The one in Naples is the largest investigative office in Italy, with 112 public prosecutors on staff and 99 in service, competent over an area of almost one and a half million inhabitants.
The vice-president of the CSM Fabio Pinelli also spoke out in favor of Gratteri. “We must all contribute to building a system that protects the prerogatives of all those involved, i.e. victims and suspects. In this context – Pinelli explained during the voting intent – I believe that the contribution that the Council can make is to favor the experiences most directly related to the work of the police and with the experiences acquired in areas of organized crime. My option of choice is to favor an aptitude requirement."
On the front line in the fight against the 'Ndrangheta, he has lived under guard since April 1989. Gratteri, born in Geraci in Locride, is very attached to his homeland: he built his professional career in Calabria. He entered the judiciary at a very young age: it was 1986, two years earlier he had obtained a degree in Law from the University of Catania. He immediately committed himself and exposed himself against the 'Ndrangheta, so much so that in April 1989 he was placed under guard. Throughout his career, Gratteri has also been involved in politics due to his knowledge of mafia phenomena in Calabria: in 2013 the then prime minister Enrico Letta involved him in the creation of a specialized task force to conceive and develop a series of proposals regarding the best strategies to adopt to fight organized crime. Renzi, having become prime minister, put him at the head of the commission for the drafting of legislative proposals in the fight against the mafia. In reality Renzi would have wanted him to be Minister of Justice but his name was vetoed Giorgio Napolitano.
In 2016 Gratteri was appointed by the CSM plenum prosecutor of the Republic of Catanzaro. During the reign of the prosecutor's office, important and media-noticed operations were carried out: the most current one is "Rinascita Scott", an investigation into the connections between the 'Ndrangheta and politics in the Vibonese area and with transnational implications regarding the drug business. In terms of numbers, it was the largest operation against the 'Ndrangheta: more than 2500 members of the police were employed in the blitz; 479 subjects involved in the investigation; 438 charges; 913 witnesses; 58 justice collaborators to listen to; and more than 14 thousand pages of precautionary custody orders from the DDA. Gratteri also stood out for his coordination relationships with international judicial authorities. He worked on the capture of 140 fugitives, some of whom were reported as among the most dangerous in Italy.
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