Il «caso Cirillo». Il «laboratorio» Br, l’incontro con la camorra e la politica criminale

The Cirillo case is an emblematic event of Campania’s recent history, a time in which a meeting ground was created between political elites, criminal fringes and terrorist groups. Thus, the events connected with the kidnapping of Ciro Cirillo take on fundamental importance for investigating the socio-political and criminal fabric of Naples, through «opaque» incidents that led to the mixing of politicians and senior public officials with the local underworld and terrorists. In this perspective, the events of the spring of 1981 are crucial to understanding the exceptionality of the Neapolitan criminal and terrorist scene, as well as controversial actions by the local political power. Furthermore, the objective of this article is to deal with the consequences of the following legal proceedings between the late eighties and the beginning of the next decade. Finally, the study also aims to understand the repercussions of these events on political processes, institutional relations and the dynamics of political legitimacy within the local public opinion.

Keywords: Cirillo case; Terrorism, Connections between politicians and organized crime; Political legitimacy.