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'It’s like coming back to life': Italian MP reveals her face to public for first time
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Jun 13, 2018 07:23pm |
| Category | General |
| News Date | Jun 13, 2018 02:50am |
| Description | Italy’s “ghost” politician – who was forced to run for office anonymously due to threats from the mafia – has finally revealed her face to the public after winning her parliamentary seat.
“After all these years spent behind the scenes, today I can finally look at the world in the face without fear of showing mine,” Piera Aiello, 51, told the Guardian, while posing for pictures for the first time since 1993.
“It’s like coming back to life,” she said, smiling at the camera lens. “At this precise moment, I feel completely free.”
Aiello’s life has been in danger since she witnessed two mafia hitmen kill her husband in 1991, forcing her to enter witness protection two years later.
In March, she stood as an anti-mafia candidate for the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) in Sicily, and won her seat despite having to campaign anonymously, and under security escort.
As an anti-mafia witness, Aiello could not show her face in public, could not be photographed, or freely hold campaign events in city squares. She often wore a veil to cover her face, and became known as the "faceless candidate". |
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