GERMANY: Italian restaurant owners in Berlin stand up against the Mafia

Italian pizzeria owners in Berlin say there is not a Mafia culture in Germany. Owners of Italian restaurants in the German capital have taken up a momentous task - they plan to stand up against the Mafia that ruins their reputation. 'Ristorante'-owners (the owners of traditional Italian pizza and pasta restaurants) in Berlin have founded an organisation 'Mafia - no thank you!' to highlight their status and to anticipate any retaliation after the murders in Duisburg where six of their countrymen were shot. "It has to be made clear that not all Italian 'pizzeria' in Germany are involved in Mafia business or launder Mafia money. I think that is better in big banks or with big real estate," said restaurant owner Piero Devites in an interview with Reuters. Restaurant owners are afraid of perceived links to the Mafia - it became known last Thursday (August 16) that more than 30 pizzeria restaurants in Berlin are linked to illegal Mafia activities. The Berlin restaurant owners' initiative is more of a preventative nature. So far the restaurant owner had not experienced any repercussions after the Duisburg shooting and had not suffered any loss of customers or negative publicity. Devites is also convinced that although it is not very difficult for the Mafia to launder money, the culture in Germany is different and contradictory to the Mafia's modus operandi. "The Mafiosi work in an environment where everyone is silent, no witnesses. That is possible in Calabria or Italy but not in Germany. Especially in Berlin I cannot imagine that the Mafia can operate like in Italy. There is not Mafiosi-like culture here. If a witness sees something he goes to the police, it's not like in Italy where every one is afraid," he said.

ITN Source | August 20, 2007

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