No apology to Rome for 'Capital Mafia' - PD's Orfini

(ANSA) - Rome, July 21 - Matteo Orfini, the president of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD), has said no apologies were owed to Rome over the 'Capital Mafia' corruption case, in which over 40 defendants were sentenced to a total of more than 250 years in jail on Thursday. "We can react in many ways to yesterday's sentence, all understandable and legitimate," Orfini wrote in an article on the site of magazine Left Wing.
    "But the most mistaken is that which has perhaps been most widespread over the last few hours - to say that you should say sorry to Rome because Rome is not a mafia city.
    "I say that as a Roman who is in love with my city. "The Mafia is present in Rome. And it is strong and deep rooted". The charge of mafia association against 19 of the defendants, including ringleaders Massimo Carminati, a former gangster and ex-member of the NAR right-wing terrorist group, and leftwing cooperatives chief Salvatore Buzzi, was scrubbed.
    Some former PD members were among those convicted.
    Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti said Friday the fact that the charge of mafia association was scrubbed in the rulings does not mean organized crime is not a problem for the capital. "We must avoid the risk of creating great confusion," Zingaretti said.
    "There is a ruling in a trial regarding a probe into an association and we know the outcome. "But this cannot be used now to say that there are no problems or mafia infiltration in Rome. The infiltrations exits, they have been reported and are known about".