Boris Giuliano, the commemoration in Palermo: his legacy still relevant.

Last Updated: July 22, 2023

Boris Giuliano, la commemorazione a Palermo: la sua eredità ancora attuale

#Palermo
“His visionary investigative method is still an example for policemen today”: this is how the State Police remembers Vice Questor Giorgio Boris Giuliano, who was killed on July 21, 1979 in Palermo. He was the head of the Mobile Squad and was shot in the back with 7 gunshots by Leoluca Bagarella. Boris Giuliano was a police officer of great caliber and intuition, one of the first prominent victims of the Mafia. He understood the dangerousness of the Mafia and realized the leap in quality that it was already making in those years that were preparing the rise of the “Corleonesi” to power.

The memory of Giuliano is still alive, and today two ceremonies have been organized. At 9 am, the first commemoration took place with the laying of laurel wreaths at the tombstone in via Francesco Paolo di Blasi: present were his wife Ines Leotta, his children Selima, Emanuela and Alessandro, and among the various authorities, the Deputy Chief of Police Vittorio Rizzi, the Questor Leopoldo Laricchia, the Prefect Maria Teresa Cucinotta, the Prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia, the Prosecutor General Lia Sava, the President of the Court of Appeals Matteo Frasca, the President of the GIP Alfredo Montalto, the Mayor Roberto Lagalla, the heads of the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza, the Councilor Giovanna Volo, delegated by the regional government. And many friends and colleagues of Giuliano’s family, including Manfredi Borsellino, a police officer.

At 9:45 am, a mass was celebrated at the Church of San Giuseppe Cafasso, in via dei Benedettini 16, officiated by the Chaplain of the police, Massimiliano Purpura, in the presence of civil and military authorities, police personnel and relatives of the fallen.

“Giuliano was a skilled and courageous investigator, a pioneer in banking investigations,” recalled Enzo Letizia, Secretary of the National Association of Police Officials, in a statement. “Giuliano’s insights are still relevant today.”

“Giuliano’s investigative talent and innovative investigation methods remain the great legacy left by the head of the Mobile Squad,” said Mayor Roberto Lagalla. “I had the honor of representing the Regional Assembly during the commemoration ceremony for Commissioner Giuliano,” added Marco Intravaia, regional deputy of FDI and member of the Regional Anti-Mafia Commission. “An intense emotion in remembering one of the servants of the State who fell during one of the darkest chapters in recent Sicilian history. Institutions have a duty to preserve the memory of those who fought organized crime to the sacrifice of their lives, so that the new generations can build a new and free future for our Island.”

“The eighth District” wrote in a statement Marcello Longo, President of the eighth District of the Municipality, “unanimously approved Councilor Giuseppina Chinnici’s motion for the planting of a laurel tree, the tree of immortality, in via Francesco Paolo di Blasi, in the place of Giuliano’s assassination by the Mafia.”