We publish an article by Alfio Bernabei, from the ANPI UK & Ireland section.
The massacre of August 2, 1980, at the Bologna train station, when a bomb planted by fascists killed 85 people, including two British students, Catherine Mitchell and John Andrew Kolpinski, will be remembered on this 45th anniversary with the customary ceremony under the clock, whose hands were frozen at 10:25, the moment of the explosion.
But a significant step toward justice was taken following the July 1 ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation, which upheld the life sentence for Paolo Bellini, guilty of the atrocity along with Francesca Mambro, Valerio Fioravanti, Gilberto Cavallini, and Luigi Ciavardini.
The five were acting on instructions received from members and affiliates of the P2 Masonic Lodge, led by Licio Gelli, who in turn worked for the NATO-sponsored clandestine operation codenamed Gladio and Stay Behind.
Italian government institutions, including the secret services, had effectively become subordinated to foreign military actors determined to keep Italy within the Western sphere of influence. Communist participation in the government was unacceptable in a NATO member country. The strategy of tension was adopted to keep Italy paralyzed by fear and disorientation, while the threat of a military coup loomed large, causing the leftist movement to lose momentum.
Bellini was a member of Gladio. He spoke in his own defense during his trial, implying that he was known to high-ranking figures. One of these was Francesco Cossiga, who served as Prime Minister and later President of the Republic. Cossiga played a role in Gladio, which he described as being based in Cornwall, the United Kingdom. Bellini’s son, Guido, recalls a telegram his father sent to Cossiga, addressing him in fraternal terms.
A self-confessed murderer of at least eleven men, Bellini trained as a pilot, even spending time in California on a false passport. This was no small feat, considering that Gelli had excellent relations with the White House. He could pick up the phone and call Alexander Haig, Secretary of State. He was invited to the inaugurations of two presidents and was in contact with the staffs of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. He arranged payments for some of those involved in the Bologna bombing.
Although relatively satisfied that Bellini has been framed as the likely person responsible for transporting the explosives to the station, Paolo Bolognesi, outgoing president of the Victims’ Families Association, who has always called for justice, prepares to return to the clock outside the station. He made it known what he will say: “Let’s move forward!”, let’s move forward “until light is shed on the leaders of those who planned the strategy of tension with the killing of innocents.”
