Anonima sarda

Anonima sarda (Italian: [aˈnɔːnima ˈsarda], Sardinian: [aˈnonima ˈzaɾda]; also anonima sequestri) is an Italian journalistic expression widely used by the Italian media as an umbrella to describe the Sardinian groups operating kidnappings for ransom, which took place for the most part in the Mediterranean island of Sardinia between the 1960s and 1997. The expression is misleading as it depicts something like a Sardinian criminal syndicate, similar to the Sicilian Mafia, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta or the Campanian Camorra. Instead, the Sardinian bandits responsible for the kidnappings lacked any kind of command structure, did not exert any influence on political institutions, specialized in basically one criminal activity, and several groups of bandits would operate with little to no relationship with each other. The frequency and severity of kidnappings for ransom operated by the Sardinian bandits became relevant and gained national-level notoriety in the 1960s when they started targeting people on the Italian peninsula and even famous Italians like Fabrizio de André. 150 kidnappings have been counted in Sardinia between 1960 and 1997 when the phenomenon is conventionally said to have ended.