(see related)About 150 people
and entities including refugees and Roma people asked to be
admitted as civil plaintiffs in the so-called Rome Mafia case,
which opened Thursday in the nation's capital.
The trial centers on an alleged racketeering ring made up
of gangsters, businessmen and politicians that muscled in on
lucrative city contracts for refugee and Roma people camps,
trash collection, parks maintenance, and other sectors.
Among the would-be plaintiffs are three refugees from
Darfur, a 23-year-old Pakistani political refugee, and 37 Roma
people who argued the defendants dissipated funds earmarked for
improvements to a camp where the city had transferred them by
force.
Others wanting to constitute themselves as injured parties
include the interior ministry, the Lazio region, the city of
Rome, AMA trash collection company, Confindustria employers
association, cooperatives league Lega Coop, Codacons consumer
group, Cittadinanzattiva (Active Citizenship) non-profit, the
Lazio section of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) and the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).
The court will announce its decision at the next trial
hearing on November 17.
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