Brother of a gang boss steals the phone from reporter’s hands

Marilena Natale was filming. The man insulted her and told her not to write about him anymore – The police escort intervened

OSSIGENO July 14^th , 2022 – on May 23^rd 2022 in Giugliano (Naples), Carmine Zagaria, brother of the “Camorra” crime syndicate boss Michele Zagaria, approached the journalist Marilena Natale, already under police escort for threats from the Casalesi clan, and took possession of her cell phone. He only returned it after the intervention of the officers of the police escort. There is a police report on the incident. Solidarity was expressed by the National Federation of the Italian Press (Fnsi) and the Campania region trade union, which will ask for a meeting with the Naples prosecutor.

The journalist was making a video report on the celebrations for the promotion to “Serie C” of the local football team. The man, who was on the town’s main street, where his family runs a perfumery, took her mobile phone, preventing her from filming and ordered her to stop writing articles about him.

MARILENA NATALE – Ossigeno spoke to the reporter, who has been involved for years in following the activities of the Camorra crime syndicate in the area and who, after various threats, was assigned a police escort. She also told us that she did actually write articles about Carmine Zagaria and his entrepreneurial activities linked to the Camorra family. “That day I was in the center of Giugliano to record – the reporter told Ossigeno – because the previous day there had been celebrations for the promotion of Giugliano Calcio team  to Serie C. While I was videoing the street with my mobile phone, in Corso Campano, Michele Zagaria’s brother who has a perfume shop in that area approached me. He took my mobile phone out of my hand to prevent me from filming and in a threatening tone claimed that my articles had led to serious repercussions for him “The other time you wrote that I had a  shop at the Auchan shopping centre they took it away from me; why do you always write about me? ” It is the second time that I have been challenged on the street by somebody from  the Camorra (see Ossigeno). I did not have to make a formal complaint against him because my police escort was present who enabled me to recover my mobile phone and who presented a report to the central police station on what had happened “.

SOLIDARITY – Ossigeno has constantly reported over the years the threats and intimidations that have struck this courageous reporter and also for this new incident it  expresses public solidarity and stands by Marilena Natale. LT wt