It is being described as a small victory against the mafia by the author of a book on one of Italy’s major organised crime gangs.<br /><br /> An alleged mafia lawyer, Michele Santonastaso, has been convicted of making threats against the writer Roberto Saviano who investigated the Camorra mafia. <br /><br /> The lawyer has been given a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay damages to Saviano and another journalist.<br /><br /> Saviano spoke to reporters outside the court in Naples. <br /><br /> “All the attention around this case is the result of 10 years of fighting,” he said. “For me these sentences represent a first step towards freedom and a normal life.”<br /><br /> Two mafia bosses, Francesco Bidognetti and Antonio Iovine, who were also charged with making threats, were acquitted. <br /><br /> But Saviano says the case still shows the gangs are not what he calls “invincible”.<br /><br /> His book was turned into an award-winning film, but it meant he became an enemy of the crime gangs, who vowed to punish him. <br /><br /> He is now living under constant protection, with personal bodyguards provided by the state.
