I
n 2025, France witnessed the emergence of an unprecedented anti-Mafia movement. In Corsica and Marseille, civil society, elected officials, public figures and the media took to the streets to proclaim that the fight against organized crime was not just a matter for the justice system. This awakening, far from anecdotal, comes as a new national anti-organized crime prosecutor's office is set to open in January. This is a response to the growing threat posed to democracy by Marseille's drug trafficking and Corsica's underworld. It also exposes the limits of a state that has allowed a rival power to flourish on its soil. For the first time, society collectively rejected these gangsters turned mafiosi, whose activities are no longer simply criminal but consist of infiltrating and taking control of the legal system.
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Hideout, murder and gourmet food: An Italian mafioso on the run in Corsica
Pierre-Louis Giorgi, a 33-year-old firefighter, was killed on December 23, 2024, in a bar in Ajaccio, the capital of southern Corsica. At the end of February, his mother spoke out on Facebook: "Thugs and murderers come and go undisturbed here, venerated and idolized by fools who remain silent (...) For all the dead or wounded victims you have cried over, do not be afraid, take responsibility. I give my opinion as a mother, as a Corsican and as a citizen. I take the risk of 'freedom of expression.'"
