Elia Minari
Lawyer and writer,
expert on anti-mafia,
anti-corruption and organized crime,
course coordinator.
[He is the founder of “Cortocircuito”, anti-mafia and anti-corruption NGO, founded in 2009.]
He delivered statements as a member of a delegation to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). He also took part, as a member of a delegation, in the United Nations General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime and in the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), in addition to collaborating on other UN activities.
He was invited to deliver a lecture at the annual congress of the International Bankers Forum.
He coordinated seminars and other activities at European Union institutions and agencies.
He is the author of the book “Guardare la mafia negli occhi”, on the theme of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia in Northern Italy, including a preface written by the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor. The book collects part of the investigations carried out by Elia Minari for eight consecutive years.
He also contributed to other books.
[In the photo: one of Elia Minari’s book presentations in Germany.]
For the past 14 years he has been carrying out investigations that were used, as evidence, in court against the ‘Ndrangheta mafia in Northern Italy.
Some of his investigations were used in the maxi-trial “Aemilia”, the largest anti-mafia trial in Northern Italy.
In addition, one of his investigations was mentioned in the first paragraph of the official report regarding the dissolution of Brescello Town Council, the first municipality dissolved due to mafia infiltrations in Emilia-Romagna region. Some of his investigations were used in court by the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor of Bologna.
After carrying out these investigations, Elia Minari collaborated with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.
[In the photos: interviews with Italian national TV.]
[In the photo: a seminar at Europol, the European intelligence and police agency.]
He has been interviewed by several foreign newspapers and TV stations (in Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, etc.).
In addition, he gave interviews to the main Italian national media (Tg1, Tg2, Tg3, La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Il Sole 24 Ore, La Stampa, in-depth broadcasts of Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3, etc.).
[In the photo: interview on France‘s national TV.]
[In one of the main national newspapers of Germany.]
[On the front page of a Swiss newspaper.]
He has participated as a speaker in over 320 conferences and public meetings.
He has been invited by universities, city councils, police headquarters, courts and other bodies, in Italy and abroad, to hold conferences and training events.
He is the coordinator of the Permanent Observatory on Legality at the University of Parma, since 2019.
In addition, he is responsible for the course “Prevention of and fight against corruption and organized crime”, in collaboration with the Regional Council. Lawyers and public managers also attended the course and earned continuing education credits.
He organized and directed a series of training sessions in Brussels and The Hague at the European Union’s main institutions and agencies.
He lectures in the Master of Science in “Criminology for investigation and security” of the University of Bologna.
He is the manager and teacher of some training courses organized by the Italian Bar Association. In addition, he has held training seminars for public managers and administrators, the Order of Journalists and other professionals.
He is responsible for projects at the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia-Romagna Region, since 2015, on the theme of the prevention of and fight against organized crime and corruption. Over the past seven years, he has coordinated projects involving hundreds of people at the regional headquarters in Bologna.
He was invited to speak and give his expert advice on the mafia phenomenon at the Anti-Mafia Parliamentary Commission.
He is the founder and coordinator of “Cortocircuito”, anti-mafia and anti-corruption NGO, founded in 2009. “Cortocircuito” is the most awarded anti-mafia association in Northern Italy.
Prizes
In 2014, the President of the Italian Senate, Pietro Grasso, awarded Elia Minari at the 20th National Anti-Mafia Summit.
In 2015, the Treccani Encyclopedia Institute named him one of the 10 most influential people of the year.
In 2016, the president of the Italian National Press Federation gave him the “Articolo 21” award. In addition, he received the “Iustitia” award from the University of Calabria (2014) and the “Resistenza” prize, awarded by Salvatore Borsellino (2015).
In 2018 he received six awards: the “Francese” international prize in Palermo; the “Piersanti Mattarella” award, in memory of the brother of the President of the Republic, who was killed by the mafia; the “Anita Garibaldi” award from the Order of Journalists and the Giuseppe Garibaldi Foundation; the “Angelo Vassallo“ prize in memory of the mayor who was killed in a mafia attack in 2010; the “Zappalà” prize in Messina and the “Testimone” prize in memory of policeman Tiziano Granata.
In 2019 he was awarded the “Primo Tricolore” for the investigations he had been carrying out since 2009. The award ceremony was held at the historic Sala del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia, the hall in which the Italian flag was born.
In 2022, he was awarded the prize dedicated to the Sicilian journalist Peppino Impastato, who was killed by Cosa Nostra, and to Valarioti, who was killed by the ’Ndrangheta.
He was awarded the “Legality Award 2023” at the Modena penitentiary institution, together with a painting created by several inmates as part of a project on legality, in the presence of the Prefect and the Chief of Police.
[In the photo: the State Seal received in Rome from the Minister of Justice.]
In 2025, he received the “Lea Garofalo Award,” with a special mention, in memory of Lea Garofalo, a victim of the ’Ndrangheta who was killed in Milan in 2009.
