Word: omerta
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...IMMUNITY SQUEEZE: In recent years, some local and federal prosecutors have begun to grant immunity from prosecution to an increasing number of criminals-whether they want it or not-to make them break their oath of omerta and talk. Normally, any witness can refuse to talk on the grounds that his answer may incriminate him. But the Fifth Amendment only permits a man to remain silent if his words might be used against him in criminal court; there is no constitutional guarantee to absolute silence. Thus, if a man refuses to talk after a grand jury agrees to remove...
...centuries the roving bandit gangs of Sardinia terrorized the island's people into a grim, submissive silence known as omerta. The impoverished citizenry never dared to speak out against the outlaws, who robbed, kidnaped, blackmailed and murdered virtually without fear of punishment. Lately, the bandits have been pushing the Sardinians a bit harder than usual. They began robbing middle-class citizens as well as the wealthier islanders. They grew more vicious, asking outrageous ransoms and even killing some of their kidnap victims. As a result, the Sardinians have finally rebelled against the tyranny; they are not only breaking their...
...espresso bars and truck gardens. But as Melbourne last week was shaken by the shotgun explosions of gang warfare, Australians became aware that the new Italian immigrants had also brought with them the blood feuds of the Mafia and Camorra, as well as the code of silence induced by omerta (death for informers...
...cars that made up the funeral procession. The man who is said to be the next candidate for assassination is wealthy Wholesaler Frank Madafferi, who attended Il Papa's and Muratore's funerals. "Let them come and get me," snapped Madafferi, then added, true to the omerta code, "All I know about these accidents and the Mafia is what I read in the newspapers-and I can't either read or write...
...years Valachi kept faith with "omerta" the underworld's blood rule of silence. Then, in 1960, he was imprisoned on a narcotics violation. Suspecting that he was turning informer, the underworld marked him for death. Crazy with fear, Valachi turned to the FBI for protection and began to sing for his life. Last week the word was out that the underworld has put a $100,000 price on Valachi's head. But Valachi, now 60, has already told his story - a bizarre account of a blood stained crime syndicate, fondly dubbed Cosa Nostra (Our Thing...