Legacy
Most sources regard the allegations of Lima being tied to the Mafia as true, although it must be pointed out that he was never formally charged or convicted of such allegations. In 1993 the Antimafia Commission led by senator Luciano Violante concluded that there were strong indications of relations between Lima and members of Cosa Nostra.
"Lima became the prisoner of a system," according to the pentito Leonardo Messina. "Before this latest generation, being a friend of mafiosi was easy for everybody… It was a great honour for a mafioso to have a member of parliament at a wedding or a baptism… When a mafioso saw a parliamentarian he would take off his hat and offer him a seat." With the rise of power of the Corleonesi this changed profoundly. "Now, it has become an imposition: do this or else," Messina said.
In July 1998, a number of powerful Mafiosi, including Corleonesi boss Salvatore Riina and Giuseppe Calò, were convicted of ordering Lima's murder. In April 2001 the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence of Riina and some of the actual killers, but did not uphold the sentences for other members of the Mafia Commission because individual responsibility could not be established, thus challenging the Buscetta theorem.
Read more about this topic: Salvatore Lima
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)