Twenty-six years ago, the mafia killed Libero Grassi: fiction to remember him

Twenty-six years ago, the mafia killed Libero Grassi: fiction to remember him

On August 29, 1991, at seven and a half in the morning, the entrepreneur Libero Grassi was killed in Palermo with four gunshots as he walked to work.

It is the dramatic epilogue of a story broke out a few months earlier when the entrepreneur refuses to submit to the blackmail of the mafia claiming the payment of the protection money.

He does it openly challenging the mafiosi. In January 1991, the Giornale di Sicilia published a his letter in which he refused to submit to the mafia blackmail.

The entrepreneur denounces the guilties of extortions (Avitable Brothers, arrested on 19 March 1991 together with an accomplice), and refuses to accept a personal escort.

He continues his action of denunciation, also underlining too many silences and complicity. An interview with Samarcanda on April 11, 1991 became memorable.

His death is a crucial moment in the history of the anti-mafia battle: Libero Grassi becomes an emblem of the will of resistance against the mafia, a witness to freedom.

Just in recent years there has been a resumption of attention on the figure of the killed entrepreneur.

On August 29, 2016, on the anniversary of the assassination, is aired on Rai1 Io sono Libero, a docufiction written and directed by Francesco Miccichè and Giovanni Filippetto.

The documentary film describes Libero Grassi's last months of life. The story of the entrepreneur (played by Adriano Chiaramida) is told from the point of view of a young journalist Marco (Alessio Vassallo) following him.

The docufiction is told through repertoire images, interviews with friends, acquaintances and family of Libero Grassi and through fiction scenes. Interviews include Alice Grassi, Davide Grassi, Sandro Ruotolo, Tano Grasso, Nando Della Chiesa, Leoluca Orlando, Letizia Battaglia.

Also in the summer of 2016, a series produced by Taodue was announced as Free Dreamers. Ideas never break ever devoted to characters who have paid dearly for the defense of their ideas.

One of the four episodes of the series, which will air on Channel 5 in the coming months, is dedicated to Libero Grassi, who will be played by Giorgio Tirabassi.