Italian police arrest 4 over bomb attack on journalist

POMEZIA: Italian police on Tuesday arrested four people suspected of carrying out an October bomb attack targeting a prominent journalist who had been threatened by the mafia.

The blast in a residential neighbourhood of Pomezia, some 20km south of Rome, destroyed two cars belonging to Sigfrido Ranucci, known for investigations into corruption and the mafia.

He has lived under police protection for several years because of death threats.

The Carabinieri police said the four suspects detained near Naples were “strongly suspected… of the offences of possessing, carrying and using explosive devices in a public place, of making threats and causing damage, with aggravating circumstances due to having acted in a group of more than five people and using mafia-style methods”.

Three of them have been placed in pre-trial detention and the fourth is under house arrest.

Ranucci, the host of investigative programme “Report” on the Rai 3 public TV station, told the ANSA news agency the day after the attack that he had received “an endless list of threats”.

The probe into the blast, handled by the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office in Rome, has been “particularly complex”, the Carabinieri said in its statement.

It involved close examination of video surveillance systems and phone records, as well as scientific analysis of the explosive device.

The bomb team are believed to have acted on orders from “third parties, who have not yet been identified”, the statement said.

“The masterminds tried to provide support to protect the alleged perpetrators, supplying them with funds, dedicated phone cards, legal assistance, and planning their possible escape abroad,” the statement said.