Rome July 19 (IANS/AKI) On the 26th anniversary of anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino s murder in Palermo with five members of his security escort Italy s President Sergio Mattarella said on Thursday that honouring Borsellino s memory meant "not stopping to search for the truth" behind the slaying.
"Twenty-six years on " said Mattarella "the memories and emotion surrounding the cowardly attack in Via d Amelio (In Palermo) are still alive " Mattarella said in a speech.
"Honouring the memory of magistrate Borsellino and the persons escorting him also means not stopping to seek the truth on that massacre " he said
Cosa Nostra bosses including the late Salvatore Totò Riina and Bernardo Provenzano as well as Giovanni Brusca were jailed for the Via d Amelio killings on July 19 1992 and for the murder of Borsellino s fellow anti-mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone and his wife also in a bomb attack on May 23 the same year.
Several mysteries surround Borsellino s murder including the disappearance of a bag of his containing his personal diary and why his police protection was not increased following similar killings - questions still being probed by prosecutors.
The killings were part of a campaign of terror waged by the Sicilian mafia after the Italian state imposed tough prison conditions for its jailed members according to Italian prosecutors.
Borsellino was "an exemplary magistrate: principled reserved brave and determined" said Mattarella a Sicilian who entered politics after his brother was murdered by the mafia.
"His investigations represented milestones in the fight against the mafia in Sicily " Mattarella said.
"Together with his friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone Borsellino became the true symbol of an Italy that fights on and does not surrender to organised crime " he said.
In remarks on Thursday populist premier Giuseppe Conte also said it was a "duty for Italy" to seek the truth about the murder of Borsellino and the five members of his security detail.

--IANS/AKI
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