Written a book about the Mafia, Roberto Saviano has been living in a permanent lockdown for 15 years

In order not to be killed, the author of “Gomorrah” is under 24-hour guard

He regrets what was written, which ruined his whole life when he was 27 years old

When Roberto Saviano published his book Gomorrah in Italy in 2006, he effectively “signed” his house arrest. Immediately afterwards, he was taken under protection by the authorities for the death threats against him in the Neapolitan chamber, about which he made important revelations. They tell him it’s only for days.

October 13 marked the 15th anniversary of the writer’s imprisonment at home against his will. It’s like being constantly in the strictest lockdown.

“It simply came to our notice then

wardrobe in

the center of

the room to

i can run on

its perimeter, ”Saviano told the weekly Sette.

He still clearly remembers the day he spent “under house arrest.” There are things you can’t get used to, such as being under guard 24 hours a day, the writer says.

Fifteen years ago, Saviano received a phone call from Carabinieri Ciro la Vola, whose words remain etched in his mind. La Vola is trying to explain to him in technical terms what awaits him. The carabinieri himself occasionally exudes emotion in his voice as he describes exactly how Saviano will be placed under protection. When authorities go to the journalist’s home to pick him up, he asks them how long it will take.

“I think a few days,” replied one of the carabinieri.

Very soon, however, the author of “Gomorrah” realizes exactly what it is about. He is like a heavy blow to the ground from what they tell him. A prisoner made revelations to the authorities about a plan to kill him. Then the same thing – a planned spectacular assassination of the Casalezi clan against him on the Rome-Naples highway, says the repentant mobster Carmine Schiavone. To all this are added other reports of the same death threat that police officers receive. What everyone’s stories have in common is that there is

issued

death warrant

against Saviano from

side of the clan

Kazalezi

All this then looks like hail, which does not stop falling on Saviano’s head. He longs to go back so that he may not publish his book. He dreams that he has not written any of his articles against the mafia. Despite his gratitude to the carabinieri, who have guarded him every minute for more than 5,500 days, Saviano regrets what he wrote 15 years ago for his lost life, for his wasted youth.

When placed under protection, Saviano was only 27 years old. Today, for the 42-year-old Neapolitan, the family is the Carabinieri. His home is the many barracks and other secret places where he is constantly moved.

“The price I paid is many times higher than the highest price I was willing to pay. Sometimes I think that

even if i die

it would be

more acceptable in

comparison with

continuously

feeling of

anxiety and

emptiness,

with whom the one placed under constant protection lives. I live as guilty. “Once I had to undergo surgery and I was admitted to the same place where the most dangerous prisoners are treated,” Saviano told Sette.

His book “I’m Still Alive” was published in Italy these days, in which the writer tells his life to a lively man who refuses to reconcile. This is Saviano’s most personal work, published in the form of a short story with drawings. The illustrations in it are by the famous graphic artist and animator Asaf Hanukkah, who lives in Tel Aviv.

For the first time, Saviano talks about himself in a comic book-like form.

“It is not true that you will either return alive from the battle or you will not return at all. In case you return, you will be injured. What you will read is my injury, “Saviano wrote in his book.

Roberto Saviano is known for his life before, but not after his protection. It is not known if he is married or has children.

He was born on September 22, 1979 in Naples. His father Luigi is a doctor from the nearby municipality of Fratamaggiore, and his mother Maria Rosaria is from the northern city of Trento, but comes from a Jewish family in Liguria. Roberto Saviano completed his higher education in philosophy at the University of Naples. He started working as a journalist in 2002, writing for various publications. Since 2002 he has been living permanently in Naples to observe the mafia phenomenon closely. Even the judicial authorities listen to the revelations published by him about the chamber.

Saviano’s personal life is a mystery to the audience. According to some, he has a life partner named Maria di Donna with the artistic pseudonym Meg, and she is from Naples and is 49. However, whether the two are married and have children is not clear.

According to other rumors, he had a love affair with a Democratic MP.

Saviano has lived in different places and in different countries since being under protection. When he moves outside, he is escorted. Everywhere in the world they know his face and recognize him. He envies Dan Brown, the author of The Leonardo Code, who can walk around Milan without anyone recognizing him.

“I envied him with all my heart,” Saviano reveals, recounting how one day in New York he entered a skyscraper and the Mexican porter shouted at him, “You are the Italian writer!” “I denied it and handed him a fake document called David Dannon. He understood what it was about and kept quiet “, Saviano reveals.

The writer tells another curious story from his life.

“I was at an airport. A fan saw me and started shouting: “How are you going on vacation? I pray for you every day, and you go to have fun? ”

“For the last 8 years I have traveled everywhere under the protection of 7 bodyguards and two armored cars. I live in police residential areas or in anonymous hotel rooms and rarely sleep in one place for more than a few nights. I haven’t taken a train or a motorcycle in years,

I don’t take walks

and I can’t go

to drink somewhere

one beer

I have to do everything on schedule, splitting the second in two, nothing is left to chance “, Saviano said in an interview with the English press in 2018.

In order not to constantly listen to his thoughts buzzing in his head, the writer always wears headphones. “And yet my head can still go crazy, so when I listen to audiobooks or podcasts, I repeat what I heard. This is the result of 15 years of life under protection “, says Saviano.

According to him, people are already tired of it. “I am the martyr, but he is not dead. It’s as if I didn’t complete the task. Every passing day someone asks: “Shouldn’t he have died? I liked it because he was prone to self-sacrifice, but if there is no self-sacrifice … ”

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