An Italian journalist who exposed the criminal empire of a violent gypsy mafia gang in Rome says she will not leave the city despite receiving death threats.
Federica Angeli's work in revealing the crime and violence of the Spada clan has led to 32 arrests and police seizures of some of the gang's occupied council flats which allegedly contained marble statues and gold-plated toilets.
Ms Angeli, who has been living with police protection since 2013, said she could not go outside to her balcony unless a police officer was in the street and revealed she needed a security escort to go shopping.
But the 43-year-old reporter has vowed to keep going until the clan in Ostia, a suburb of Rome, is brought down, The Times reported.
She said the wife of one of the clan members had pointed to her and said: 'Tell her we'll kill her as well as her children'.
Ms Angeli said: 'The bosses are in jail and their assets have been seized but that makes them more dangerous than ever as they need to show they count, to defend their criminal reputation.
'When things got difficult I didn’t leave. Now I want to be around for the clan’s defeat.'
She and her husband had told their three children, aged nine, 10 and 13, that their mother had a driver as a 'reward' for her journalistic work, she said.
The threats against Ms Angeli come after attackers tried to set fire to the house of Federico Ruffo, a fellow investigative journalist.
Mr Ruffo's work has helped to expose the 'Ndrangheta mafia, which operates in Calabria in southern Italy.
According to the Council of Europe a red cross was painted on his walls and petrol was poured on to the doorway but Mr Ruffo was rescued when his dog started barking and the arsonists fled the scene.
He had reportedly received threats on social media before the planned attack and has since had further messagis saying the the 'Ndrangheta should 'finish off the job'.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
