Giuseppe 'Peppino' Impastato was an Italian journalist and political activist born in 1948 in Cinisi, a small town close to Palermo (Sicily).
Son of the mafioso Luigi Impastato, Peppino soon abandoned his family to initiate a series of political and cultural anti-mafia activities. He dedicated his life to the fight against Cosa Nostra. His weapons against the Mafiosi's violence and corruption were humour and satire. He founded a newsletter and a radio station to expose the crimes and injustices carried out by the Mafiosi of Cinisi - which he called Mafiopoli - in particular by local boss Gaetano Badalamenti.
Badalamenti himself ordered the murder of Peppino Impastato on the night of May 9th, 1978. His body was found in the morning on the railway line between Cinisi and Palermo. The press and the police archived Impastato’s death first as a failed act of terrorism, then as a suicide. 24 years later, in 2002, Badalamenti was finally declared guilty of the murder.
Today, Peppino Impastato is seen as a symbol of courage, honesty and determination by the anti-mafia movement. Impastato used the media as the main vehicle to freely express himself, which cost him his life.
The choice of Impastato as the central figure of this Linked Open Data Project is an opportunity to represent his life from several perspectives through different types of media. Remembering his story, as well as the ones of other Mafia victims, is a fundamental component in the fight against corruption and organised crime.