Bologna massacre
Encyclopedia
The Bologna massacre was a terrorist
bombing of the Central Station
at Bologna
, Italy, on the morning of Saturday, 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist
terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
. Suspicions of an Italian secret service's involvement has emerged shortly after due to the explosives used for the bomb and the political climate in which the massacre
happened, but it has never been proved.
and a "Compound B", also known as Composition B
. The explosion destroyed most of the main building and hit the Ancona
–Chiasso
train that was waiting at the first platform. The blast was heard for miles. The roof of the waiting room collapsed onto the passengers, which greatly increased the total number killed in the terrorist attack.
On that summer Saturday the station was full of tourists and the city was unprepared for such a massive incident. There were not enough ambulances, so buses and taxis were used to transport wounded victims to hospitals.
The attack was recorded as the worst atrocity in Italy since World War II
.
The next day, police investigators found metal fragments and scraps of plastics near the source of the explosion. The Italian Government led by Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga
first assumed the explosion to have been caused by an accident, but within a short time the NAR
were shown to be responsible for the terrorist attack. Later, in a special session to the Senate, Cossiga supported the theory that neofascists were behind the attack, "unlike leftist terrorism, which strikes at the heart of the state through its representatives, black terrorism prefers the massacre because it promotes panic and impulsive reactions."
General Pietro Musumeci
, n°2 of SISMI
and revealed in 1981 to be a member of Propaganda Due
(P2), was charged with having created falsified evidence
to charge Roberto Fiore
and Gabriele Andinolfi, two leaders of Terza Posizione
who had fled in exile to London, of the bombing. Both Terza Posizione leaders claimed that Musumeci was trying to divert attention from Licio Gelli
, head of P2.
A trial involving 20 suspects was initiated in 1987.
In July 1988, four neo-fascists received life terms for the bombing: Valerio Fioravanti
(23 at the time of the blast), his wife Francesca Mambro (born in 1960), Massimiliano Fachini and Sergio Picciafuoco. They also received sentences for belonging to an armed group, as well as Paolo Signorelli and Roberto Rinani, who were absolved of the charge for carrying out the attack. Licio Gelli, leader of the masonic P2 lodge, as well as three others, Francesco Pazienza
, Pietro Musumeci
and Giuseppe Belmonte, received sentences for slandering the investigation. Stefano Delle Chiaie
, who was arrested in and extradited from Venezuela a year earlier, was absolved from the charge of subversive association.
Two years later, in July 1990, an appeals court cancelled the convictions of the defendants Valerio Fioravanti; his wife, Francesca Mambro; Massimiliano Fachini; and Sergio Picciafuoco, as well as the slander convictions of Gelli and Pazienza. A retrial was ordered in October 1993.
On 23 November 1995, the Court of Cassation
(Corte di Cassazione) issued the final sentence:
In April 1998, the former fascist Francesca Mambro was authorized to leave her prison during the day, and carried out activities against the death penalty in the headquarters of the Radical Party.
To date those responsible for the attack and their political motives remain unknown. Some suspected that the Operation Gladio
network had been at least partially involved.
at the time of the Bologna massacre, received a 30-year prison sentence for his role in the attack, which was upheld by the Court of Cassation in April 2007. Freed by the Italian justice until the sentence of the Court of the Cassation, Ciavardini had been imprisoned in October 2006, after being arrested following the armed robbery of the Banca Unicredito di Roma on 15 September 2005. Ciavardini was also charged with the assassination of Francesco Evangelista on 28 May 1980, and the assassination of judge Mario Amato
in June 1980.
Following the 2006 arrest of former Argentine Triple A member Rodolfo Almirón
, Spanish lawyer José Angel Pérez Nievas declared that it was "probable that Almirón participated — along with Stefano Delle Chiaie and Augusto Cauchi — in the 1980 bombing in Bologna's train station." But the Argentine Supreme Court refused in 1998 to extradite Canchi to Italy.
In 2008, former President Francesco Cossiga
alleged that PLO-affiliated terrorists from George Habash
's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
were responsible for the bombing, however the PFLP has denied responsibility.
The municipality of Bologna together with the Associazione tra i familiari delle vittime della strage alla stazione di Bologna del 2 agosto 1980 hold an annual international composition competition, which culminates with a concert in the town's main square, Piazza Maggiore
annually on 2 August, which is also the day designated as a memorial day for all terrorist massacres.
The area of the station where the bomb detonated has been reconstructed but the flooring has been left unrestored and a deep crack in the main wall has been left as a memorial to the attack. A station clock is also set at 10:25, the exact time of the explosion.
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
bombing of the Central Station
Bologna Central Station
Bologna Centrale is a railway station in Bologna, Italy. It is at the southern end of the Milan-Bologna high-speed line, which opened on 13 December 2008 and the northern end of the Bologna–Florence Direttissima, opened on 22 April 1934...
at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy, on the morning of Saturday, 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist
Neo-Fascism
Neo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari was an Italian neofascist terrorist organization active from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate Francesco Cossiga, Gianfranco Fini and Adolfo Urso...
. Suspicions of an Italian secret service's involvement has emerged shortly after due to the explosives used for the bomb and the political climate in which the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
happened, but it has never been proved.
Bombing and investigation
At 10:25 a.m., a time-bomb contained in an unattended suitcase detonated inside an air-conditioned waiting room, which, the month being August (and with air conditioning being uncommon in Italy at the time), was crammed full of people. The bomb was made of TNT, T4Poudre B
Poudre B : was the first practical smokeless gunpowder. Originally called "Poudre V" from the name of the inventor, Paul Vieille, it was later renamed "Poudre B" to distract German espionage...
and a "Compound B", also known as Composition B
Composition B
Composition B, colloquially "comp B", is an explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenades, sticky bombs and various other munitions...
. The explosion destroyed most of the main building and hit the Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
–Chiasso
Chiasso
Chiasso is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is located at the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso...
train that was waiting at the first platform. The blast was heard for miles. The roof of the waiting room collapsed onto the passengers, which greatly increased the total number killed in the terrorist attack.
On that summer Saturday the station was full of tourists and the city was unprepared for such a massive incident. There were not enough ambulances, so buses and taxis were used to transport wounded victims to hospitals.
The attack was recorded as the worst atrocity in Italy since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The next day, police investigators found metal fragments and scraps of plastics near the source of the explosion. The Italian Government led by Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
first assumed the explosion to have been caused by an accident, but within a short time the NAR
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari was an Italian neofascist terrorist organization active from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate Francesco Cossiga, Gianfranco Fini and Adolfo Urso...
were shown to be responsible for the terrorist attack. Later, in a special session to the Senate, Cossiga supported the theory that neofascists were behind the attack, "unlike leftist terrorism, which strikes at the heart of the state through its representatives, black terrorism prefers the massacre because it promotes panic and impulsive reactions."
Trials
A long, troubled and controversial court case and political issue ensued. The relatives of the victims formed an association (Associazione dei familiari delle vittime della strage alla stazione di Bologna del 2 agosto 1980) to raise and maintain civil awareness about the case.General Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
, n°2 of SISMI
SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
and revealed in 1981 to be a member of Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due
Propaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
(P2), was charged with having created falsified evidence
Falsified evidence
False evidence, forged evidence or tainted evidence is information created or obtained illegally, to sway the verdict in a court case. Also, misleading by suppressing evidence can be used to sway a verdict; however, in some cases, suppressed evidence is excluded because it was found hidden or...
to charge Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore is an Italian nationalist politician and a founding member of the European third position movement which is against both communism and capitalism...
and Gabriele Andinolfi, two leaders of Terza Posizione
Terza Posizione
The Terza Posizione was a far right group founded in Rome in 1978 . The TP rejected both capitalism and socialism, looking instead to found a political and economic Third Position, with its main influence being Julius Evola...
who had fled in exile to London, of the bombing. Both Terza Posizione leaders claimed that Musumeci was trying to divert attention from Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli
Licio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
, head of P2.
A trial involving 20 suspects was initiated in 1987.
In July 1988, four neo-fascists received life terms for the bombing: Valerio Fioravanti
Valerio Fioravanti
Giuseppe Valerio Fioravanti is an Italian former child actor and terrorist, founder of the neo-fascist terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari....
(23 at the time of the blast), his wife Francesca Mambro (born in 1960), Massimiliano Fachini and Sergio Picciafuoco. They also received sentences for belonging to an armed group, as well as Paolo Signorelli and Roberto Rinani, who were absolved of the charge for carrying out the attack. Licio Gelli, leader of the masonic P2 lodge, as well as three others, Francesco Pazienza
Francesco Pazienza
Francesco Pazienza is an Italian businessman, and former officer of the Italian military intelligence agency, SISMI. As of April 2007, he has been paroled to the community of Lerici, after serving many years in prison, including a 1993 conviction due to his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal,...
, Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci
Pietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
and Giuseppe Belmonte, received sentences for slandering the investigation. Stefano Delle Chiaie
Stefano Delle Chiaie
Stefano Delle Chiaie is a neofascist Italian activist . He went on to become a wanted man worldwide, suspect to be involved in Italy's strategy of tension, but was acquitted. He was a friend of Licio Gelli, grandmaster of P2 masonic lodge...
, who was arrested in and extradited from Venezuela a year earlier, was absolved from the charge of subversive association.
Two years later, in July 1990, an appeals court cancelled the convictions of the defendants Valerio Fioravanti; his wife, Francesca Mambro; Massimiliano Fachini; and Sergio Picciafuoco, as well as the slander convictions of Gelli and Pazienza. A retrial was ordered in October 1993.
On 23 November 1995, the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
(Corte di Cassazione) issued the final sentence:
- Confirmation of life imprisonmentLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
to the neo-fascists Valerio FioravantiValerio FioravantiGiuseppe Valerio Fioravanti is an Italian former child actor and terrorist, founder of the neo-fascist terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari....
and Francesca Mambro, members of the Nuclei Armati RivoluzionariNuclei Armati RivoluzionariThe Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari was an Italian neofascist terrorist organization active from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate Francesco Cossiga, Gianfranco Fini and Adolfo Urso...
(NAR) —who have always maintained their innocence—for executing the attack. - Sentence for investigation diversion to Licio GelliLicio GelliLicio Gelli is an Italian financier, chiefly known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. He was revealed in 1981 as being the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due...
(headmaster of P2), Francesco PazienzaFrancesco PazienzaFrancesco Pazienza is an Italian businessman, and former officer of the Italian military intelligence agency, SISMI. As of April 2007, he has been paroled to the community of Lerici, after serving many years in prison, including a 1993 conviction due to his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal,...
and to SISMISISMIServizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007....
officers Pietro MusumeciPietro MusumeciPietro Musumeci is a former general and deputy director of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI.A member of Propaganda Due, Musumeci was convicted in 1985, alongside with other SISMI officers Francesco Pazienza and Giuseppe Belmonte, for embezzlement and criminal association. Musumeci and...
and Giuseppe Belmonte.
In April 1998, the former fascist Francesca Mambro was authorized to leave her prison during the day, and carried out activities against the death penalty in the headquarters of the Radical Party.
To date those responsible for the attack and their political motives remain unknown. Some suspected that the Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
network had been at least partially involved.
Recent developments
In 2004, Luigi Ciavardini, who had been a 17-year-old NAR member associated closely with the Terza PosizioneTerza Posizione
The Terza Posizione was a far right group founded in Rome in 1978 . The TP rejected both capitalism and socialism, looking instead to found a political and economic Third Position, with its main influence being Julius Evola...
at the time of the Bologna massacre, received a 30-year prison sentence for his role in the attack, which was upheld by the Court of Cassation in April 2007. Freed by the Italian justice until the sentence of the Court of the Cassation, Ciavardini had been imprisoned in October 2006, after being arrested following the armed robbery of the Banca Unicredito di Roma on 15 September 2005. Ciavardini was also charged with the assassination of Francesco Evangelista on 28 May 1980, and the assassination of judge Mario Amato
Mario Amato
Mario Amato was an Italian magistrate, assassinated in 1980 by NAR members Gilberto Cavallini and Luigi Ciavardini....
in June 1980.
Following the 2006 arrest of former Argentine Triple A member Rodolfo Almirón
Rodolfo Almirón
Rodolfo Almirón Sena was a former Argentine police officer and a leader of an extreme right-wing death squad known as the Triple A, operating in Argentina during the mid-1970s...
, Spanish lawyer José Angel Pérez Nievas declared that it was "probable that Almirón participated — along with Stefano Delle Chiaie and Augusto Cauchi — in the 1980 bombing in Bologna's train station." But the Argentine Supreme Court refused in 1998 to extradite Canchi to Italy.
In 2008, former President Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
alleged that PLO-affiliated terrorists from George Habash
George Habash
George Habash also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" was a Palestinian nationalist. Habash, a Palestinian Christian, founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which pioneered the hijacking of airplanes as a Middle East militant tactic...
's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
were responsible for the bombing, however the PFLP has denied responsibility.
Legacy
Piazza Maggiore
Piazza Maggiore is a square in Bologna, Italy. It was created in its present appearance the 13th century.The square is surrounded by the Palazzo dei Notai, the Palazzo d'Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Basilica of San Petronio....
annually on 2 August, which is also the day designated as a memorial day for all terrorist massacres.
The area of the station where the bomb detonated has been reconstructed but the flooring has been left unrestored and a deep crack in the main wall has been left as a memorial to the attack. A station clock is also set at 10:25, the exact time of the explosion.
List of victims and their age
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See also
- Banda della MaglianaBanda della MaglianaThe Banda della Magliana was an Italian criminal organization based in Rome, particularly active throughout the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of most of its members....
, a mafia gang with links to the fascist-aligned NARNAR-Places:* Nar Jaffar Khan, a town and union council in Bannu District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan* Nar, Nepal, a village development committee in Manang District in the Gandaki Zone of northern Nepal... - False flagFalse flagFalse flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
operations - List of terrorist incidents
- Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, also known in the Italian media as the Ustica Massacre , was an Italian flight which crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea while en route from Bologna, Italy, to Palermo, Italy, in 1980. The crash has been attributed to either a terrorist bomb or to an air-to-air missile...
- History of the Italian Republic
- List of massacres in Italy
- Strage di Piazza Fontana
- Strategy of tensionStrategy of tensionThe strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
- Games of the XXII Olympiad (Moscow)1980 Summer OlympicsThe 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
- P2 lodge
- Operation GladioOperation GladioOperation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
Further reading
- La strage. L’atto d’accusa dei giudici di Bologna, dir. Giuseppe de Lutiis, Editori Riuniti, Rome, 1986
- "NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe", Daniele Ganser, Routledge, 2004.
External links
- stragi.it, official website of the association of the relatives of the victims (Italian only)
- BBC Overview of the events
- "2 Agosto" international composing competition
- Bologna Central Station
- Time Magazine 18 August 1980
- A Massacre to Remember — The Bologna Train Station Bombing Twenty-Five Years Later
- "1980: Massacre in Bologna, 85 dead"
- L'ora della verità, a committee for claiming the innocence of Luigi Ciavardini and to reveal dark spots of the court case (Italian only)