“The government wants to take away my bodyguard and is accusing me of earning money by talking about mafias”

If any name is being repeated again and again these days at the world’s largest Frankfurt Book Fair, it is that of Roberto Saviano (Naples, 1979). author of gomorrah He found himself involved in a controversy last May, much to his chagrin, after he was not invited by the delegation of this year’s guest nation, Italy. Following the verdict, the author, one of the best-selling Italian authors of all time, launched an attack on social networks against the government, which he described as “the most ignorant government in the history of Italy”.

Several Italian writers showed their support with a protest letter addressed to the Italian government commissioner for the fair. Some, like Paolo Giordano or Antonio Scurati, announced that they would come but through another means. “I didn’t feel comfortable, especially after what happened,” Scurati admitted during the presentation of his new book on Wednesday. Saviano, on the other hand, did not clarify whether he would participate in the literary event until a few days before it began. Finally, PEN Berlin announced that on Saturday it would participate in two events with them: one with correspondent and writer Birgit Schönau in Italy, and the other with PEN Berlin spokesperson, Deniz Yücel.

He was not included in the list of writers invited by the Italian delegation to the book fair. You said you were “proud” of it.

I would never want to be among those who give prestige to a government in which I do not recognize myself.

Despite this he wanted to come.

Yes, and I plan to attend many meetings. When the fair’s director Juergen Buss, my German publisher Hanser Verlag and the country’s public television, ARD/ZDF, saw that my name was not on any of the lists, they hurried to formalize an invitation to guarantee my attendance. When representatives of the Italian government frankly admitted at the press conference that my name had been left out voluntarily, it became clear that we were facing a censorship act. And the fair did not want to support that authoritarian act.

“When government representatives acknowledged that my name had been voluntarily excluded, it became clear that we were facing an act of censorship.”

Many writers decided to withdraw from the official call after the neglect they received.

I thank those who expressed their support for me, although many did so because they realized that places were limited for them too. The government talks about “cultural hegemony”, which is a very dangerous concept to handle, especially if it is done by a government that does not have a liberal view about the exercise of power. What does it mean to overthrow one cultural hegemony and replace it with another? For now this means canceling some voices and replacing them with others that do not have the sharpness required by the government, but also completely paralyzing the Italian cultural industry, something that my country cannot allow because culture is a motivator. Is the area.

The first justification given for your absence from the list is that you are not the author of “wholly original texts”. Who is he talking about?

We must ask the genius who said these words. What is not original to me is the feeling of revenge. There is a need to attack after seeing how much pain the attack can cause. They don’t understand that all this garbage is not a game and they are giving Italy a bad name. They censored me and what did they get? That the German media will unite and make it clear that any censorship is unacceptable.

He mentioned him several times during the inaugural press conference.

The President of Hesse, Boris Rhine, called me with Giovanni Falcone and said: “The Italians who have explained to us how to defend democracy. “Those who harass certain undemocratic forces.” After some time the Minister of Culture. Claudia Roth made a list of writers for whom Europe would never be the same: “Primo Levi, Alberto Moravia, Pirandello, Deledda, Calvino, Eco, Morante and Roberto Saviano.” Of all the people he mentioned, I am the only one alive.

Is this a specific case of censorship or is it linked to other areas?

I will give an example which will make it clear. my television show, Insider – Face to Face with CrimeDedicates interviews to allies of justice or victims of the mafia. The Italian government banned it for a year. It is politicians who instigate censorship and opinion, state television, has succumbed to political vendetta.

Has it been resolved?

The intervention and pressure of associations of relatives of mafia victims was necessary for the program to finally be broadcast a year later. As far as I’m concerned, censorship along with increasingly violent attacks continue to happen on a daily basis. Over the years, politicians have, in addition to suing me, threatened to take away my bodyguard (Salvini) and accused me of enriching myself by talking about mafias (Melloni). I have got used to it, but it is neither right nor normal for this to happen.

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Due to this he does not step back even a single step.

I can never be less critical of a government that implements xenophobic and intolerant policies. A government that tramples on the liberties of citizens, both those who voted for it and those who would never dream of giving it priority in an election. This government works exactly like its inspirer Viktor Orban: it doesn’t attack everyone, it selects enemies to destroy so that they serve as a warning to everyone else.

The motto that Italy brings to the fair is “rooted in the future.” Do you consider this correct?

The myth of roots is popular with the Italian right. Deep roots in the area. But those are just empty words, slogans which they repeat to please themselves. I do not believe that this policy has its roots in Italy in the future. I also don’t think it’s rooted in the past. I don’t see him as stagnant at all, but as withered, upset and full of dissatisfaction. “Now it’s our turn…” This is the motto of the Maloney government, which has nothing to do with the roots.

I do not believe that this policy has its roots in Italy in the future. “I don’t even think it’s rooted in the past.”

Frankfurt is generally a thermometer of political opinions. What do you need to measure this year?

Certainly, the growth of far-right movements will be a central issue as it is everywhere. Of course, in addition to talking about ongoing conflicts and their victims, like Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschina, who was murdered in a Russian prison a few days ago. Russian authorities have alleged “unknown circumstances and causes”. He is too young to be able to tell her anything. He was 27 years old. Just like they did with Navalny and those “natural causes” that no one ever believed in.

The Gaza War is also present at the fair this year.

Israel bases its perceived legitimacy to defend and attack on the Holocaust. Without recognition of a Palestinian state, the first step toward a democratic Palestinian state, there will never be peace. With the Israeli extreme right in power, this is less so. Neither Hamas’s terrorism nor Netanyahu’s bombs against innocents in Gaza and Lebanon. Our intervention as civil society is fundamental.

What would you say Italy will contribute to this literary event and what can the country take from this fair?

Italy will bring to Frankfurt its ability to resist any imposition: no one can impose culture from above, but it is a common and shared feeling. Culture is created from below. And what will Frankfurt bring to Italy? Safety and a platform to express dissent.