An anti-mafia informant and activist for state's witnesses from Italy on Wednesday made the BBC's annual list of the world's most inspirational women.
Piera Aiello, now an MP for ruling the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), featured on a list including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, anti-Trump US soccer star Megan Rapinoe and rising Democratic star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes.
Aiello, who was cited for her work in defence of state's witnesses and their children, said "I thank the BBC for recognising my battle against the mafia, even though I haven't done anything extraordinary." She dedicated the honour to "my parents who taught my the values of legality, my sister-in-law Piera Aiello (also a state's witness, who committed suicide at 17, a week after the assassination of anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino), and Paolo Borsellino who accompanied me in the first steps of this long and difficult journey".
Aiello, 52, has been living in the witness protection programme a long way from Sicily for the last 28 years.
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