Lodovico Ligato (; 15 August 1939 – 27 August 1989) was an Italian
Christian Democrat
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
Italian State Railways
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...
. He was killed by the 'Ndrangheta – the Calabrian equivalent of
the Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
.
Political career
Born in Reggio Calabria as the son of a poor railwayman, he began in journalism, joined the Christian Democrat Party and in 1979 was elected to parliament with a large majority. He won with 80,000 votes thanks to the support of the De Stefano 'ndrina.Cinque all'ergastolo per l'assassinio di Lodovico Ligato Corriere della Sera, March 22, 1996 Intelligent, pushy, self-assured and charming, he rose quickly in the ranks of the party. The Independent, December 7, 1992L’atteggiarsi delle associazioni mafiose sulla base delle esperienze processuali acquisite: la ’ndrangheta , by Salvatore Boemi, in ''I delitti di criminalità organizzata'', Quaderni del Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura N. 99 He was re-elected in 1983.Dati personali e incarichi nella IX Legislatura Camera dei Deputati
In 1985, thanks to his political connections, he was made head of the state railways. Three years later he was forced by his own party to resign, charged with fraud for vast sums of money spent on throwaway sheets for couchettes, bought by the railways in a crooked contract for 10 times their real value (known as the "lenzuola d'oro" or "golden sheets" scandal). Subsequently, there were other charges of bribery, corruption and embezzlement.
Killed by the 'Ndrangheta
Back in Calabria he claimed a large share of the rake-offs from huge and lucrative public works contracts. At the end of the 1980s, 600 billion lire (US$444 million) were allocated for the modernization of the city of Reggio Calabria. Ligato demanded a 10 percent bribe on the whole project, jeopardizing agreements already reached among a so-called "business committee" of local politicians and 'Ndrangheta groups.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 176
On 27 August 1989 he was killed after he bade farewell to dinner guests at the gate of his seaside villa at Bocale, near Reggio Calabria.
In 1992 four Calabrian politicians - three Christian Democrats and a Socialist - were charged with deciding, along with five 'Ndrangheta bosses, to have ordered the assassination of Ligato. The two former MPs, one a former minister, and two former mayors of Reggio Calabria and their 'Ndrangheta associates decided to kill Ligato because he had got in the way of their business interests.
The politicians were absolved from ordering the killing in 1996. Among the 'Ndrangheta bosses who ordered the killing were