We receive from the Communications Office of GOEL Gruppo Cooperativo
GOEL FORMS A CIVIL PARTY AGAINST DEATH THREATS TO PARTNER PINO TRIMBOLI
At the preliminary hearing of the trial against the death threats received by Pino Trimboli and his family, GOEL – Gruppo Cooperativo – through GOEL Bio agricultural cooperative – presented a request to be a civil party.
Pino Trimboli is one of the partners of GOEL, his farm gives GOEL Bio and his well-known restaurant “La Collinetta” is included in the responsible tourism circuit of “I Viaggi del GOEL”.
In the period between December 2018 and January 2019, four letters were received containing extortionate requests and very serious threats: “if you don’t pay 50 thousand euros you’re dead, I’ll burn your restaurant, your children and all your family”.
After Pino immediately filed a complaint with the police, GOEL reacted by rallying around its partner and launching a strong national press campaign of solidarity.
The institutional reaction was also firm and timely: the then prefect of Reggio Calabria Michele Di Bari immediately convened the Committee for Public Order and Security in Locri.
Furthermore, GOEL asked the territory to mobilize “putting its face”, to show the ‘Ndrangheta which side it was on.
The reaction was extraordinary: Mayors, representatives of bodies and institutions and hundreds of ordinary people flocked to the “La Collinetta” restaurant in the following days, regardless of the risks, filling the place for months, like a sort of “human shield”.
The investigations by the police and the judiciary, which GOEL applauds, have led to the setting of the preliminary hearing and the alleged perpetrators will now have to appear in the trial to be held at the Court of Locri.
As happened in 2019, today too GOEL is alongside its partner Pino Trimboli: GOEL Bio agricultural cooperative has asked, in fact, to become a civil party in the process that has just started.
If the request is accepted and compensation is obtained, GOEL will allocate it to the attack solidarity fund that the Group has activated for years.
Regardless of the outcome of the request, GOEL undertakes to maintain high attention throughout the entire procedural process.
Pino Trimboli, for his part, reiterates: “I am confident in the work of justice. Being part of GOEL is a constant incentive for me to live with ethics and dignity. Having reported the threats to the police and having appealed, together with GOEL, to the local and national community, not only made us feel less alone, but also concretely supported us: the clientele has increased significantly and many people continue to give us their support. Rebelling together is the smartest way to react: this is my message to those who find themselves in similar situations.”
It is often thought that “minding one’s own business” and suffering in silence is the most appropriate thing to do to protect one’s own safety, while this attitude condemns the victims to remain submissive and helpless forever.
React – possibly together, raise your voice as much as you can, take sides, remain intact and make no exceptions, team up with those who have the same problem: these are the attitudes that truly guarantee safety. By acting with intelligence and courage, ethics can prove not only right, but also extraordinarily effective. Pino’s story demonstrates this unequivocally.
Tags: Fight Ndrangheta death threats
