Mafia bosses acquitted of threatening best-selling author Two mafia bosses were acquitted of threatening Roberto Saviano, the Italian writer who authored a best-selling exposé of organised crime groups in his home town of Naples, in a blow to hopes of a tougher stance by Italian courts against the mafia's intimidation of the media. Francesco Bidognetti and Antonio Iovine, leaders of the "Casalesi" clan of the camorra, were both cleared of the charge that they had issued a death threat to Mr Saviano and Rosaria Capacchione, a former reporter and centre-left lawmaker, during a hearing of a previous mafia trial. However, Michele Santonastaso, the lawyer who read out the message threatening Mr Saviano in court, was dealt a one-year suspended jail sentence, offering a measure of consolation and a partial victory for Mr Saviano and Ms Capacchione. They are not unbeatable, they are not invincible and this ruling proves it. The Casalesi are paper tigers because they hid behind a lawyer," said Mr Saviano, 35, who travelled to Naples under police escort to hear the verdict. Mr Saviano said he hoped the trial would mark the "first step" towards his own freedom and a new life, but he warned that "Italy is a complicated country and I do not believe the fight against the mafia is a priority." In 2006, Mr Saviano published Gomorrah, a detailed, graphic, undercover investigation of the Neapolitan mafia, drawing international attention to this branch of Italian organised crime and earning him the ire of the local mafia leaders. He has since lived outside Italy, including several European countries and the US, fearing for his life. Mr Saviano has continued to write for Italian and international newspapers on criminal organisations, including the financing of Latin American drug cartels. The biggest setback in the verdict for Mr Saviano is the failure to convict Mr Bidognetti. Mr Iovine has been co-operating with the government so his acquittal was expected.