Prime Minister Berlusconi has once again taken to talking about justice, even though he doesn’t want anyone else to talk about justice. Every time I broach the subject, both he and his henchmen are quick to retort that: “Di Pietro and the Italia dei Valori party are forever harping on one single topic. They are obsessed with the justice system and can speak of nothing else”. In actual fact, it is he that is obsessed with justice, but only the kind that suits him. His most recent pearl of wisdom for August was when he said that the justice system must be overhauled because that is what Judge Falcone wanted.
Falcone is a man who gave his life while attempting to ensure that everyone would be equal before the law, fighting a battle against large-scale organised crime and, above all, fighting against any form of collusion and connivance between organised crime and the institutions. As far as justice is concerned, hearing Berlusconi quoting Falcone is somewhat like hearing the devil himself claiming ownership of the holy water in order to get his own way.
Falcone fought against the Mafia. Berlusconi, instead, has not only lived with the mafia's stable boy, but has welcomed him into his own home. Who does Berlusconi think he is fooling? He, the very same Berlusconi, knows that world very well and has in the past had convivial relationships with certain mafia types, such as Dell'Utri, whom he has now gone and brought into Parliament.
Falcone was certainly not against the independence of the judiciary, anything but. Berlusconi, on the other hand, would like to see a judiciary that is dependent on the executive. Indeed, he goes so far as to insist that the Upper Council of the Magistrature be made up of senior lay people, in other words, people appointed by the politicians. He wants to see a justice system that is subordinate to the politicians and that takes a step back when it comes down to the matter of prosecuting politicians. This is precisely the opposite of that which Falcone wanted. Every time I have the temerity to point this out to him (Berlusconi that is), both he and his lackeys indignantly state that: “The Honourable Di Pietro must refrain from even mentioning the name of Judge Falcone”, however, he of all people is the one who should take that advice.
What I would say to people such as Martelli, our revered Justice minister who has in the past been found guilty and sentenced for his involvement in the Enimont scandal and who has just recently stated that: “Di Pietro must leave Falcone out of it because Falcone himself scorned the ‘Clean Hands’ investigation and the Milan judges” (for what it’s worth coming from someone who was sentenced as a result of the very same Clean Hands investigation), is that, at the time of the commencement of the Clean Hands investigation, and prior to his death, as director general in the Ministry of Justice, Falcone handled all of the international rogatory letters that were being sent out to the various judicial authorities around the world, in particular the Swiss authorities, on behalf of the Milan judges. It was precisely thanks to Falcone’s involvement that the initial investigations were carried, as proven in the documentation, which I am more than willing to produce.
The person that first put us in touch with judge Dal Ponte, and the very same person that instituted and forwarded the letters of request for assistance, which I personally drafted, in the investigation of 42 individuals, was none other than Giovanni Falcone himself. I find it hard to believe that any judge who apparently, as is being claimed, scorned the Clean Hands investigation and hated the Milan judges would do so much in terms of driving forward the rogatory letters required by the very same Milan judges that he supposedly scorned.
This is the real truth. The rest is nothing more than unfounded claims made by certain accused and sentenced criminals whose only desire is to change history so as to be able to exploit the memory of a hero for their own purposes.
I again reiterate that I am not the one who first dragged up Giovanni Falcone’s name. I say that he should be left to rest in peace after so many people fought so hard against him while he was still alive and eventually managed to kill him. However, we cannot simply stand back while the very same Prime Minister, who has often in the past had dealings with known mafia associates, proceeds to exploit the memory of someone who was killed by the mafia, solely in order to improve his own image and to justify certain reforms that are clearly counter-reform and are aimed purely at causing the justice system to fail because otherwise he would risk allowing the system to reveal his own involvement. Remember that the legislation regarding the justice system that he himself instituted was specifically designed to prevent him being prosecuted, because otherwise we would not simply have a Prime Minister, but one that has been prosecuted and perhaps even sentenced.