1980

March 12, Bari
Martino Traversa, 19 years old, DJ

It is the night between March 11 and 12, 1980, when several far-right militants from the Fronte della Gioventù – Sezione Passaquindici storm into the studios of “Radio Levante” on Via Camillo Rosalba. Their goal is to broadcast a propaganda message through the microphones of the Christian Democratic-inspired station.

But the station’s DJ does not comply. His name is Martino Traversa, a 19-year-old student who, although also close to far-right circles, does not accept this violent intrusion into his workplace. A confrontation ensues, and the young man ends up worse off: he is shot by a bullet fired by his peer Stefano Di Cagno.

Martino dies instantly, while Di Cagno flees to France, where he is arrested some time later in a supermarket. He is sentenced to 18 years in prison. Released in 1995, he returns to jail in 2005 for illegal possession of weapons (in 2022, he commits suicide in prison in Foggia, editor’s note).