Ilaria Alpi (24 May 1961 – 20 March 1994) was an Italian journalist murdered in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

, Somalia, together with her camera operator

Miran Hrovatin Miran Hrovatin (11 September 1949 – 20 March 1994) was an Italian photographer and camera operator killed in Mogadishu, Somalia, together with journalist Ilaria Alpi under mysterious circumstances. Background and death Hrovatin belonged to th ...

. In 2009 Francesco Fonti, a former

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

member, claimed that Ilaria Alpi and her cameraman were murdered because they had seen toxic waste shipped by the 'Ndrangheta arrive in

Bosaso Bosaso (, ), historically known as Bender Qassim is a city in the northeastern Bari province ('' gobol'') of Somalia. It is the seat of the Bosaso District. Located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, the municipality serves as the region ...

, Somalia.Establishment hit by fresh accusations in toxic waste scandal
by Phillip Willan, The Herald, 20 September 2009 At the time of her murder, she was following a case of weapon and illegal toxic waste trafficking in which she believed the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

and other institutions were also involved. Alpi was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and worked for Italian public television broadcaster

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

. In the 2002 movie '' Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni'', directed by Ferdinando Vincentini Ornagni, she is portrayed by

Giovanna Mezzogiorno Giovanna Mezzogiorno (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian theatre and film actress. Early life Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, 9 November 1974, a daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on s ...

Biography

After graduating at the high school gymnasium "Titus Lucrezio Caro" of

, she graduated in literature after completing language courses and

Islamic culture Islamic cultures or Muslim cultures refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam ...

in the Department of Oriental Studies of the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. Thanks to her excellent knowledge of languages (Arabic, French, English), she won the first journalist writing from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

on behalf of ''

Paese Sera ''Paese Sera'' was an Italian afternoon newspaper published between 1949 and 1994. History The newspaper was founded in Rome in 1949, as the afternoon edition of the newspaper ''Il Paese''. Close to the Italian Communist Party, it was intended ...

'' and ''

L'Unità (; English: "the Unity") is an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the Left, a ...

''. Later she won a scholarship to be taken to Rai. She is buried in the Cemetery Flaminio in Rome. Her mother, Luciana Riccardi Alpi (1933–2018), undertook, from the first trial, a battle to seek the truth and bring down all sorts of misdirections on the murder of the journalist and the cameraman.

Investigation into waste trafficking in Somalia

Ilaria Alpi arrived in Somalia for the first time in December 1992 to follow, as a TG3 correspondent, the peace mission Restore Hope, coordinated and promoted by the United Nations to put an end to the civil war that broke out in 1991, after the fall of Siad Barre. Italy also took part in the mission, thus overcoming the reservations of the special envoy for Somalia, Robert B. Oakley, linked to the ambiguous relations that the Italian government had maintained with Barre during the eighties.

Death

On 20 March 1994, Alpi and

were gunned down in an ambush on their jeep in

by a seven-man commando unit after returning from

, while they were in Mogadishu reporting for

Rai 3 Rai 3 (formerly Rai Tre) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural a ...

. In 2000, Somali citizen Hashi Omar Hassan was convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison for the double murder. In October 2016, a court in Perugia, Italy, reversed the conviction and Hassan was awarded more than three million euros for the wrongful conviction and nearly 17 years he had spent in prison. On 20 March 2014, 20 years after their deaths, the Italian government reportedly authorized the declassification of secret files into their deaths.

Legacy

Between 1995 and 2014, the was an annual prize for

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

dedicated to Alpi and presented in

Riccione Riccione (; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Riccione is centred on the Rio Melo, a minor river that flows into the Adriatic Sea. In the decades following the construction of the Bologna–Ancona r ...

. In 2015, it changed its name to the DIG Award. The 2003 film ''Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni'' by Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani recounts Alpi's story. In 1997, the Gang dedicated the song ''Chi ha ucciso Ilaria Alpi?'' (Who killed Ilaria Alpi?), while in 2010 the

Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

wrote the song ''Reporter'', poignant ballad on the album ''Dove comincia il sole'' dedicated to Ilaria and her illustrious colleague,

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for h ...

. In 2007 he made his debut at the Prize Ilaria Alpi's monologue civil theater "''The Holiday''" which reconstructs the case of Ilaria and Miran. Written and performed by Marina Senesi, actress and voice of Radio 2 Caterpillar in collaboration with Sabrina Giannini, journalist of ''Report''. In 2011, at the invitation of Don Luigi Ciotti work was represented on the stage of the "XVI Day of the memory and the commitment against the mafie" and the National Day of Libera. In May 2009, Daniel Biacchessi wrote Alpi's story in his book Passion reporter. The ONG Emergency has titled the surgical centre of

Battambang Battambang (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang province and the List of cities and towns in Cambodia, third largest city in Cambodia. The city is situated on the Sangkae River, which winds its way through t ...

, Cambodia. They were then named several streets, parks, schools, libraries and other public places.www.ilariaalpi.it: The places of memory to...Ilaria Alpi
/ref> For Ilaria Alpi was named the high school of

Rutigliano Rutigliano (; Barese: ) is a town and commune in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of I ...

in the

Metropolitan City of Bari The Metropolitan City of Bari () is a metropolitan city in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari. It replaced the province of Bari and includes the city of Bari and some forty other ''comuni'' (: ''comune''). It was first c ...

Plaques and awards

*1994, Plate, Community Open,

*1994, Plate, Prize National to Professionalism, Serrone,

Fiuggi Fiuggi ( Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Italian region of Latium. The town of Fiuggi became famous for its Acqua di Fiuggi (Fiuggi Water), which flows from its natural spr ...

*1995, Plate, Association of Journalists,

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

*1994,

Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

, Clean pens,

Sarteano Sarteano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about southeast of Siena. Sarteano is particularly important from the historical point of view. Located betwe ...

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

*2005, Prize,

Antonio Russo Antonio Russo (3 June 1960 – 16 October 2000) was an Italian journalist and Vice-President of the International Press Free lance (FLIP), He was murdered while covering the Second Chechen War. Career Born in 1961 in Chieti, (Abruzzo), Russo ...

Francavilla al mare Francavilla al Mare () is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The municipality, included in the urban area of Pescara, borders with Chieti, Miglianico, Ortona, Pescara, Ripa Teatina, San Giovanni T ...

Chieti Chieti (, ; , , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Southern Italy, east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo, Abruzzo region. In Italian, the adjectival form is ''teatino'' and inhabitants of Chieti ar ...

*2003, Prize, Mario de Murtas,

Alghero Alghero (; ; ; ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian province of Sassari in the north west of the island of Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ''Aleguerium'', which is a mediaeval Latin word m ...

*1995, Prize, the book, International Fair,

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

*Plate, circumscription VIII,

*1994, Prize, National Chia for the record photographic and television, Chia,

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

*1994,

Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

, Prof. G.Moscati, Casanova,

Caserta Caserta ( ; ) is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. An important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city, Caserta is located 36 kilometres north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian p ...

*1995, Prize, Professional Reporter: the image of journalism in film. *1995, Journalist Award Roberto Ghinetti,

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at a historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of the E ...

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

*1994, Plate, Memory Serming *1994, Prize journalism,

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

- Carlo Casalegno,

*2003, Prize journalism,

Andrea Barbato Andrea Barbato (7 March 1934 – 12 February 1996) was an Italian journalist, politician, author, broadcaster, and screenwriter. Barbato was born in Rome. He started his career in journalism in 1956 working as a correspondent for the BBC. He al ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

*2003, 04, 05, Prize journalism,

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

Journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

, Roma per Roma,

Campidoglio The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. The word ''Capitolium'' first referre ...

*1995, Prize, Antonino Buttitta,

Honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

and

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

References

External links

Death in Somalia
by

Michael Maren Michael Maren (born November 15, 1955) is an American journalist, screenwriter, and director. He spent seventeen years as a foreign correspondent based in Africa, writing for magazines like ''The Village Voice'', ''Newsweek'', ''The New Republ ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpi, Ilaria 1961 births 1990s murders in Somalia 1994 crimes in Somalia 1994 deaths 1994 murders in Africa 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian writers Assassinated Italian journalists Female murder victims Italian people murdered abroad Journalists killed while covering the Somali Civil War Unsolved murders in Somalia Women war correspondents Writers from Rome Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio People assassinated in the 20th century