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ROME – The decades-long judicial pursuit of those responsible for the 1980 Bologna train station bombing, which killed 85 and injured over 200, reached its conclusion on July 1 with the definitive life sentence of Paolo Bellini. A former member of the neo-fascist group *Avanguardia Nazionale*, Bellini was identified as a multi-faceted criminal with ties to the ’Ndrangheta mafia and now stands convicted as a key perpetrator of Italy’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack.
The ruling, occurring days before the 45th anniversary of the August 2 massacre, dispels lingering shadows over what courts have termed the “apex of the Strategy of Tension”—a period of far-right violence aimed at destabilizing Italy’s democracy. Paolo Bolognesi, president of the victims’ families association, declared this “the closing of a circle,” noting that courts now confirm the bombing was orchestrated by fascist terrorists, funded by Licio Gelli’s P2 lodge, and shielded by rogue intelligence services.
Initially, only three members of the far-right group *Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari* (NAR)—Valerio Fioravanti, Francesca Mambro, and then-17-year-old Luigi Ciavardini—were convicted (in 1995 and 2007). Subsequent investigations revealed a broader network: Gilberto Cavallini received a life sentence in 2024 for logistical support, while Bellini’s 2021 trial exposed him as the “fifth bomber.”
Critical evidence included amateur footage placing Bellini at the station minutes before the explosion and testimony from his ex-wife, who shattered his alibi after 40 years. The Court of Assizes explicitly labeled the atrocity a “political massacre” and “state-sponsored terror,” dismissing earlier “minimalist” theories that framed it as the work of isolated radicals.
The prosecution traced financing to funds embezzled from the collapsed Banco Ambrosiano by Gelli and accomplice Umberto Ortolani—both deceased but posthumously identified as masterminds alongside intelligence figures Federico Umberto D’Amato and Mario Tedeschi. “Compensation was paid to the perpetrators,” the court affirmed, underscoring the attack’s systematic backing.
As victims’ families prepare to mark the anniversary, their message underscores a 45-year struggle: “Decades of cover-ups and false leads to hide the truth. Our resolve prevented it.” With Bellini’s sentence, the judicial chapter on the bombing’s executors is sealed.
(Source: ANSA)*