The environmentalist mayor of a small town in southern Italy was shot dead in what a magistrate said on Monday was an execution by the Camorra, the powerful mafia syndicate operating around Naples.
The body of Angelo Vassallo, 57, was found early on Monday in his car in a side street near his home, shot in the head and body.
"He was killed for having said one 'no' too many. He said it to people who don't take 'no' for an answer. It was a 'no' to the Camorra, I have no doubts," said Raffaele Marino, a prosecutor in Torre Annunziata and a former anti-mafia magistrate in an interview to the website of daily La Repubblica.
"He was a man who fought against illegality and was always in the front line," said Alfredo Grecco, the prosecutor leading the probe.
Vassallo, a father-of-two, was the centre-left mayor of Pollica, a town of 2,500 inhabitants south of Naples on the popular tourist coast of Cilento.
He was known for helping preserve a national park, fighting against building abuses and imposing a 1,000 euro (1,290 dollars) fine for those throwing cigarette butts on the ground.
Legambiente, one of Italy's largest environmental organisations, praised his work "in defence of the environment and of legality," while traders on Monday kept their shops closed as a sign of mourning and protest at his death.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
