27 August 2008

As I see it…

I’m publishing an interview published in today’s Il Secolo XIX, in which I respond to some questions about the alliance with the Democratic Party, the referendum to repeal the Lodo Alfano, about the relationship of Italia dei Valori with civil society and the campaign groups, about Beppe Grillo and still more.


Secolo XIX: Honourable Di Pietro, how is the relationship with the Democratic Party (PD)? By now there’s no day that goes by without a disagreement or a reciprocal reproach.
Antonio Di Pietro: First we have to understand what the Democratic Party is and then we will succeed in understanding what relationship there can be between us.

Secolo XIX: In what way?
Antonio Di Pietro: In as much as with respect, I am waiting for the completion of a political process that is going on, a process that to me seems imperfect. But I never forget and I would like the PD not to forget either that our political opponent is Berlusconi. This is why I think that their choice not to participate with us in the collection of signatures against the Lodo Alfano is a mistake. Not for other reasons. I would have been pleased if they had been at our side in the streets and squares of Italy.

Secolo XIX: Even without the PD, you are not going to give up on the Autumn campaign? Are you convinced that you can do it anyway?
Antonio Di Pietro: But of course we will not have problems with the signatures. Everything is ready: the operation starts off on 12, 13 and 14 September at Vasto where we are having our conference. The forms are being printed and we have formed the teams that are already ready to go into action in 120 locations in italy. And there’s more: at the beginning of October we will organise a big demonstration and in that week, we reckon to collect at least 100,000 signatures. At the beginning of January the 800,000 signatures will be with the Court of Cassation.

Secolo XIX: By now you have become an icon of "girotondi" and of campaign groups. Do you feel comfortable with that?
Antonio Di Pietro: We have a solid relationship with civil society and with the campaign groups. But it’s not enough to do the "girotondi". It’s necessary to transfer certain issues in active politics: we believe that in the campaign groups there are valuable people that are capable of representing a valid alternative to this political class. This is why, at the next European elections, we will open up our lists: we will reserve 70 to 80 per cent of the places in the IdV lists to the leaders of civil society and of the campaign groups.

Secolo XIX: In Autumn, there’ll also be Beppe Grillo starting out with his new 2008 tour. Is it a coincidence that he is playing the game in your favour?
Antonio Di Pietro: I really appreciate what Grillo is doing. In fact, thank goodness he’s there. In a way it is the political class that is the fugitive. Grillo is not making mistakes: he’s like a radiologist that tells you you are ill. And if there’s an illness, what’s to be done? You don’t close down the diagnostic laboratory, but you go off and find the right treatment.

Secolo XIX: Here everyone is looking for a bipartisan approach to the reforms. But do you really not believe in the possibility of dialogue with “il Cavaliere”?
Antonio Di Pietro: It is incredible that the government talks about the reforms and asks us for a consensus sight unseen, on text that is not known. We don’t know what there is behind the door. But, in general, I can tell you one thing: “se li conosci, li eviti” {If you know them, you avoid them}.

Secolo XIX: The latest idea on justice is that the Lega proposes having prosecutors elected by the people and there’s Ghedini who supports that. What do you think?
Antonio Di Pietro: It’s an American thing. But can you imagine in Italy the potential judges going round doing election campaigns? And how will they get support in places like Plati, Corleone or Locri?

Secolo XIX: A final thing: they continue to talk about your own newspaper, even more so now that Travaglio and others have come into a collision course with the new directors of l'Unità. Will you confirm or deny that?
Antonio Di Pietro: I know nothing and no one has talked to me about this. Having said that, I will add: wouldn’t it be great if there were a new newspaper that was able to gather the free voices that are still in circulation?

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26 August 2008

The wish to Inform

The control of information is the key point for guaranteeing continuity of all dictatorships, even the gentle ones, like our own. It is the tool, when appropriately manoevred, that allows for the manipulation of the consciences and the opinions of a nation. The political class knows this very well and it knows the mechanisms to guarantee control.

It’s not a coincidence that the four-time- President of the Council Silvio Berlusconi is the owner of three TV networks of which one, Rete4 is abusively occupying frequencies. It’s not a coincidence that Silvio Berlusconi comes out with “the publisher Ciarrapico has important newspapers that are not hostile to us and it is absolutely important that these newspapers continue to be so” when Giuseppe Ciarrapico, definitively convicted for receiving and fraudulent bankruptcy, wants to be a candidate to the Senate.

It’s not a coincidence that the political parties influence the main news publications by means of assigning public funds to the party and non-party publishers. It’s not a coincidence that with each new legislature we see the painful farce of assigning the armchairs for who is to control the State TV. In exchange, to keep the balance, newspapers and TV have to guarantee that the front pages of the newspapers and the national news broadcasts give maximum space to talking about opinions, soft declarations, “head-and-shoulders”, family gossip, holiday retreats and preferred reading of the VIPs of politics.

If a citizen were to settle on these considerations they would have to resign themselves to living “in a coma of conscience”. Luckily that doesn’t happen. Something is changing. We can see that by surfing the internet, or reading the odd article that escaped the controls of the editors, or by watching some “rebel” broadcast that’s useful to the audience ratings (on which normally legal proceedings for defamation shower down and sharp words from the editors on the following day).

Today, while reading the comments to the article “Justice: Attracting the birds to entrap them”, I noticed that of Paolo Papillo. Paolo says he is a “precarious” lorry driver and in his spare time he participates in the political life of this country with his PC and his mobile phones. His is a small contribution but it is an expression of the freedom of information, done by citizens who are not resigned. Paolo is a citizen who wants and hopes that things can change as the Internet keeps his conscience awake.


I’m publishing Paolo Papillo’s comment:

“And the holidays are over for those who had holidays. I who am a “precarious” lorry driver don’t know what it is to have paid holidays. I start again with my battle against false information, because a people that doesn’t know is a people that doesn’t get angry.
I am one person and I can’t do a lot. I am a lorry driver and I set off in the night between Sunday and Monday and I come back home on Friday night. The weekend I dedicate to my family and to resting and sometimes even to politics. To be honest, it annoys me that I cannot do more, especially for this dramatic moment for our country. A country that I see drifting away in the hands of a clique of business people and inhabited by a population made up mostly of “I-don’t-care-people”. So what have I invented to try to get my dissenting voice heard? With a laptop and 4 mobile phones, in the hours when I have to stay still with my lorry, I send out emails and I do phone calls to the radio and TV broadcasts that give us the chance to go live. And I “shout out” all my anger and outrage. What I do is not much but it is still better than nothing. Just think if there were thousands of us doing the same thing. Now the holidays are over I will go back to my battle against false information, hoping that someone will support me. Staying just on the blog is like “canatarsela e suonarsela” alone. It’s for those who don’t visit the Internet that we have to explain and get them to understand what we are moving towards.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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25 August 2008

Justice: Attracting the birds to entrap them

Since the beginning of this legislature, the pages of the newspapers have been almost entirely monopolized by the issue of the justice system, a topic dear only to Silvio Berlusconi and his foot soldiers in the government. And every so often also to the superficial opposition. The most recent outbursts about Falcone by the President of the Council are reluctant. It’s enough to read an article by Marco Travaglio published in yesterday’s l'Unità.

If the information media were to offer a clear picture on what is described in this article, many Italian citizens would be in a position to see this governing group of mates, in a different light at the next elections. But the media stay silent, they do not make connections, nor do they do reconstructions, they focus on the details and the polemics. No one stops to consider the contents, since the contents can comment on themselves.

The justice system is not the priority for the country right now. The main topic is that of the economy, as can be seen in the international media except for the Italian media. The priorities are inflation at 6%, an uncontrolled increase in the price of goods of basic necessity, expensive energy, the increase in unemployment and the collapse in consumption and in production. These are the emergencies that should by requiring all the energy of those in government and of a constructive opposition.

In Vasto, on 12-13-14 September in the third national meeting of the party, we will talk about these priorities. We will work out how to organise and construct the political approaches that can tackle these emergencies. We will do this together with the citizens whom we are inviting to participate even through the Internet by sending in questions and proposals on these topics so that they can be discussed in the individual debates.

I repeat. The justice system does not need reforms especially if they are coming from this political class. Rather it needs to optimize the resources it has available.

Read also:
- Summer sunstroke

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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24 August 2008

My Facebook

In January 2006 I set up this blog. This event was subsequently followed by numerous other initiatives on the Internet, ranging from video clips posted on YouTube, summaries of Cabinet proceedings, direct streaming of the events held in Vasto and in Piazza Navona, through to Never Land, the virtual island on Second Life and the establishment of the Italia dei Valori portal. Each day I read through the hundreds of comments concerning my posted articles and e-mails. Many politicians and friends believe that I am wasting my time, but they are wrong.
The Internet is a form of communication that is free, direct and independent. It is not some “new” way to communicate, nor is it a communication “channel”, and anyone who sees it as such is simply dismissing what has essentially been a historic revolution that has introduced new ways for individuals to relate to each other, revolutionised our culture, increased the spread of information, increased the availability of services and shortened access and information lead times, thereby breaking down social barriers and reducing the distances between individuals. The Internet gathers within itself the inherent ability of every individual to contribute to the building up of the knowledge base within a Country, as well as to the organisation of such knowledge and acting like a megaphone for the potential that is yet to be discovered.
The Internet is all about democracy and, therefore, it is also all about politics.
A few months ago I decided to open a personal account with Facebook.
Facebook is a social networking platform that first made its appearance on the Internet back in 2004 and that now has a user base of some 60 million people. Each day, millions of people get together and exchange photographs, messages and video clips. I am one of these people.
The reason for this choice is that it fits in with my view of the Internet as being an instrument by which the citizens can participate in politics, one that is free of the limitations affecting the traditional media, which has now become the moribund tool of the old fashioned politician, and a means of remaining in contact with the real needs of the country.
Anyone who may wish to do so can access my Facebook profile, join the network of initiatives and involve me in their own initiatives. The link for gaining access to my space is to be found in the top toolbar of this blog. I am waiting for you all to go there.

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21 August 2008

Nanny State

I’m linking to an article from the British daily, The Independent, called "Tourists beware: if it's fun, Italy has a law against it "

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17 August 2008

The Berlusconian philosophy

Here is a translation of an article from the Spanish daily newspaper “El Pais”, entitled "Towards the berlusconisation of Europe".
"Journalist Indro Montanelli, a former right-winger, was wrong when he predicted that Berlusconi’s election would be a good thing. “That man is like an illness and the only cure for it is a vaccine. A good injection of the ‘Cavaliere’ as prime minister in order to provide us with immunity”. This notwithstanding, the Italian population have once again voted him into power, not simply for a second time, but for a third time. “The population” admires this man. Montanelli was also wrong when he insisted that “the Italians are incapable of moving to the right without resorting to the use of the truncheon”, obviously referring to fascism. This Berlusconian right wing doesn’t need to resort to truncheons, after all it has its own television stations.
If demagogy is the downfall of democracy, then we must accept that berlusconian Italy is the kingdom of all that resembles any form of demagogy. Economic crises, refuse problems in Naples, organised crime and corruption at the highest levels. However, the new Italian Government immediately identified the causes of all of the Country’s ills as being the immigrants and the gypsy children. I certainly hope that the consequent decisions are not taken with the aim of “putting Europe back on the straight and narrow”, as stated by the “Cavaliere”, who found a very different Europe upon his return after two years of absence. “This Europe, without Tony Blair, Aznar, Chirac and myself, has lost all of its personality and has gone backwards”. It would be impossible to say it any clearer manner than this.
When Silvio Berlusconi promises to straighten out Europe, in his vocabulary it means that as far as Italy is concerned, his set objectives have already been met. He had a specific recipe for the Country, which he has implemented fully. What he wanted was a Country without any rules and regulations, with no critical spirit, and populated by individuals that are fast asleep in the grip of a totally meaningless passiveness. And he has managed to achieve all of this in just two decades. His plan began to take shape with the creation of his very own media empire. Having gained control of the means of communication, it was easy for him to obtain the kind of support that many politicians can only dream about. When Berlusconi talks about Europe, his comments are often taken very lightly. In fact, with his colourful turn of phrase, he is able to make things seem far less serious than what they really are. Racism, xenophobia and male chauvinism become nothing more than mere opinions or jokes. This is the same technique that has always prevailed in all of his media, namely, to get the people accustomed to that type of discussion, until eventually seems to be something that is perfectly normal. Obstacles are avoided at all costs. Democracy must be stripped of all of its power. It must become ill. Any attempt to defend it must be eliminated by using the kind of language that, on initial inspection, appears to be courteous and respectful to the fellow man. This is the kind of language that Berlusconi and those around him refer to disparagingly as being “politically correct”.
That is why, when Berlusconi talks about straightening out Europe, we should take his comments very seriously indeed. He has realised the extent of the difficulties involved in adapting Italy to comply with European rules and regulations and, in view of this fact, he has now decided to get the rest of Europe to adapt in order to match the Italian model. In other words, changing reality to suit his personal needs. After all, if this approach has been implemented so successfully in Italy, then why not attempt to “export” the model throughout the rest of Europe? He is a great entrepreneur, after all, and he is looking to team up with like-minded individuals. What do you think Sarkozy is, if not merely a product of the Berlusconi school? This is precisely what the “Cavaliere” dreams of, namely to create a Europe in his own image and likeness.
The issue of immigration is a good example, which goes to prove that Europe is becoming more berlusconian with every day that passes. Berlusconianism is a particular way of seeing the world, an acknowledged philosophy. Instead of actually addressing the problem earnestly, they simply launch another series of slogans. Such as strict laws for illegal immigrants. Such as jail time, for example. Can they please explain to the population precisely how a potential jail sentence is going to deter someone who is prepared to risk death in order to escape from hunger and persecution?
In order to address the problem of his free-falling public approval ratings, Sarkozy proposes the creation of a European bunker, in other words, sealing off the borders of the Union in order to prevent indiscriminate immigration. This is one of the four main priorities that have been set for France’s six-month presidency of the European Union. In this regard, its “integration contract” is a work of art, the apotheosis of demagogy and a perfect example of high-level berlusconianism. The very idea that someone can be integrated merely by signing a contract is the product of a mind that that has failed to grasp not only the fundamental concept of immigration, but also the real significance of poverty. Many years ago, when I worked with the Tànger Church in Morocco, I witnessed many people who were prepared to go as far as converting to Catholicism in exchange for obtaining a visa that would grant them access to Spain. If people are prepared to go as far as changing their religion, then how much easier will it be for them to simply sign a piece of paper?
In extreme circumstances, people will be prepared to sign any conceivable contract whatsoever, and to endure endless humiliation, however, this will clearly not resolve the immigration problem, nor eliminate the hardships faced by the local population. In an increasingly globalised world, addressing the issue of immigration purely by means of slogans and applied demagogy may well increase the user’s popularity, however, it is of no help whatsoever in terms of resolving the actual problem.
It is only by viewing the world in an open-minded manner and by accepting the current reality that we will be able to eliminate the real evil, namely poverty. Shutting the doors of Europe is nothing more than a mere fantasy and a huge lie. Instead, the berlusconianism that is currently invading the old continent is an established fact. The problem is that: “his ability to lie in such a convincing manner – states Montanelli – is due to the fact that he himself genuinely believes his own lies”.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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15 August 2008

Modern Fascism

After populist, leftist, extremist, justicialist, (these are labels that have been attached to me personally), another term has been invented for those who are not aligned to the servilism of the government: catholic-communist.

This is the latest attack that the Berlusconi IV regime has raised against Famiglia Cristiana, guilty of having criticized certain initiatives of this government farce.

The technique is always the same: evoking anti-berlusconi-ism and communism. These accusations come into play every time there is a democratic discussion of the choices adopted by the majority. No dialogue. This is the political line of the current government. This is the new approach of modern fascism. Famiglia Cristiana has right on their side.

Below, I am publishing the article published in Famiglia Cristiana.


“Il Presidente spazzino nel 'Paese del marciapiede'” {The street-cleaner President in the ‘Land of sidewalks’}

”It is the ‘Land of sidewalks’ the one that is taking up the last days of this summer of poor holidays, characterized by the roughly 50% collapse in hotel bed-nights in the holiday resorts. After various conflicts between Maroni and La Russa, the soldiers arrive on the sidewalks of the cities, bewildered young people assigned the tasks of the police that they don’t know how to do (not even as though we were in Angola), and the beggars are sent away without distinguishing those connected to the begging racket from the true ones.
In Rome, mayor Alemanno, who in other fields displays ideas that are much more advanced than the anti-fascist prejudice gives him credit for, is even chasing away the poor people dressed with a jacket and tie from the big bins of “leftovers” outside the supermarkets. They call them waste products, but there you can find fruit and vegetables that are not sufficiently beautiful for displaying on the sales shelves. And so if we want to safeguard the aesthetics, why don’t we do the “bargain corner”, thus covering up a ritual that hurts the consciences with a gesture of compassion (here too is aesthetics)? In the IKEA shops that is done, and no one is scandalised. Quite the opposite.
But from the sidewalks even the prostitution disappears (will this be the real event?) and it would be ungenerous not to credit the government with this for having given to the mayors the powers for protecting the decorum and the safety of its own citizens. However, this is as long as the “creativity” of the mayors does not create institutional problems with the Police Chiefs and the Prefects and as long as it doesn’t shine for measures that are as ridiculous as they are useless; and that the Government doesn’t indulge in offloading its responsibilities onto others, as with the belated and imprudent declarations (attacked by the August sun?) from Meloni and from Gasparri, who asked our Olympic athletes not to take part in the parades so as to protest against China (the strong gestures, if they are able to do them, let them do themselves, the usual crafty politicians who always want to occupy the stage without paying the price!)


…
Is it too much to ask the government to banish the suspicion that when the right is in government the divisions get bigger so that the rich get richer and the families get poorer?”

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12 August 2008

Alitalia: miracle postponed

I’m publishing an article from the British weekly "The Economist" called “Alitalia: miracle postponed”

“We will perform another miracle and will offer Italy a profitable national airline.” That was the promise from Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, this week as his government postponed the announcement of a long-awaited plan to rescue Alitalia, the country’s lossmaking flag-carrier. The “miracle” was to have been discussed at a board meeting on August 8th and revealed soon afterwards, but will now be a secret until September. The stated reason is to avoid disrupting the summer holidays with strikes and cancelled flights. But many people reckon the plan is being delayed because it is controversial and, in some ways, incomplete.

Alitalia is in such dire straits that only a recent loan of €300m ($480m) from the government is keeping it flying. Air France-KLM made an offer for Alitalia in March, but withdrew its bid after failing to reach agreement with Alitalia’s unions—and after Mr Berlusconi said during his election campaign that selling Italy’s flag-carrier to a French rival would be unacceptable.

Intesa Sanpaolo, the bank subsequently given the job of finding new Italian investors for Alitalia, quickly found that there was no chance of getting anyone to put money into the airline in its current form. “That was a dream,” says a person familiar with the bank’s thinking. Instead, it has devised a plan to split Alitalia in two.

One part would be a new, privately held company, with no debt and fresh equity of €1 billion contributed by a dozen or so Italian industrialists, including Gilberto Benetton, Luigi Aponte and the Marcegaglia family. The new firm would take over Alitalia’s best assets and some from Air One, a smaller Italian airline with a newer fleet. If all went as planned, the new airline would become profitable from 2009 and would float on the stockmarket in 2010.

The new investors, of course, want nothing to do with Alitalia’s disastrous past. So the government would own the “old” company (it owns 49.9% of Alitalia), which would retain the airline’s €1.1 billion of debt and its unwanted assets. Three-quarters of Alitalia’s 20,000 workers would move to the new company and the rest would stay with the old. “The new, appetising company would be sold and the bad company would simply be a liability for public-sector finances,” concludes Enrico Letta, an opposition politician.

It is unclear whether Giulio Tremonti, the finance minister, would accept such a division. Having just won parliamentary approval to cut spending by €30 billion, he is likely to resist having Alitalia’s liabilities dumped on the public finances. And the European Commission, which is already investigating the loan to Alitalia as a case of illegal state aid, is likely to object. Greece tried a similar split with its lossmaking flag-carrier in 2003, notes Rigas Doganis, an aviation-industry commentator. Brussels found that the split was a way to provide cover for continued state aid.

Observers also question how committed the Italian investors are. A condition of Intesa Sanpaolo’s plan is that a big foreign airline be brought in as a partner for the new Alitalia, and Mr Benetton recently said that such an alliance was vital for the project’s success. Lufthansa, Europe’s second-biggest airline, is the likeliest candidate, but has not confirmed any interest.

If the government can corral new investors for Alitalia, it will then have to decide how to split the firm. The law says Alitalia would have to go through a procedure similar to bankruptcy in order to split itself in two and have its debt stay with one half, says Edoardo Staunovo Polacco, a lawyer who specialises in bankruptcy. The government wants to revise the law to speed things up, but has so far denied that Alitalia will be placed in bankruptcy.

After being elected, Mr Berlusconi warmed towards Air France-KLM, but it was too late. Many in his party must now bitterly regret the missed opportunity—the French airline would, after all, have bought Alitalia, debts and all. They must be hoping that Air France-KLM will return to the table or that Lufthansa will make a bid. That really would be a miracle. “

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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11 August 2008

Another Martyr

Antonio Gava, who passed away on 8 August at the age of 78 after a long illness, was one of the most powerful politicians of the period after the war. He was a leader of the Christian Democrats and was a Minister many times.
An excellent defendant in one of the biggest trials carried out by the State against the Camorra. He wasn’t even dead before many declared him a “Saint”, a victim of the “season of justicialism”.

I’m publishing an article by Marco Travaglio on the topic, it appears in today’s l’Unità. I agree with what is said.

”For Berlusconi, Antonio Gava was “completely integral” and “his death does not cancel out the wrong that he suffered: the judicial Calvary of 13 years that undermined his health and that ended with his complete absolution from an accusation that was infamous and unfounded”. For the “kiwi” Minister Rotondi, the artifice of the “Naples Renaissance”.
For Piercasinando, he was a victim of the “season of justicialism”. For the emeritus Cossiga, “one of the many people persecuted by the militant magistracy”. For the former minister of Justice Mastella, “he was worn down by heavy accusations that have been shown to be completely non-existent, by hypotheses that were then proved wrong.”. For that fine head of Bobo Craxi, “when in Naples there were men like Gava there was no rubbish” (in fact they called him “Fetenzia”). Professor Galasso defines him “completely integral” and “always coming out well from any tribunal”. President Napolitano denounces “the difficult personal trials”. Now before the dead “Padre della Patria” {Father of the Nation} is beatified, with streets and squares named after him, it is perhaps worthwhile remembering a couple of details, taken from the verdicts that everyone cites but no one has read. The first trial against Gava, for receiving, led to him being sentenced to 5 years at the first level, then reduced to 2 years on appeal (The Court of Cassation cancelled from the list of crimes, the crime of corruption and triggered the Statute of limitations, so he was guilty of bribery, but he got away with it). The second, for external collaboration in a camorra organisation following on from accusations by the “pentiti” bosses Galasso and Alfieri, ended with a definitive absolution and compensation for unjust detention. But it’s enough to read it (the site societacivile.it publishes ample chunks of it) to understand that the trial had to take place, the accusation was based on concrete facts and documents: «The Court believes – write the Naples judges – that it has been proved with certainty that Gava was aware of the reciprocal functional relationships that existed between local politicians and the Alfieri camorra organisation, as well as the contamination between organised crime and local institutions in the territory of Campania; it has been proved that he has carried out no decisive or concrete intervention to fight or place a brake on that situation, instead he has ended up benefiting from the electoral benefits that are derived by his political grouping: but this conduct based on the awareness of the defendant, although it appears to be reprehensible from the political and moral point of view, so much more so if you consider the specific powers and duties of this person in the period when he was Minister of the Interior, cannot on its own be enough to affirm his criminal responsibility”. And again: «The defendant was fully aware of the influence exercised by the camorristic organisations operating in Campania about the formation and/or the activity and the connection between the local politicians with members of the Camorra, and since it’s not reasonable that he should be interested in local politics without being aware of the phenomenon of co-penetration of the camorra in the political life, in whose management he would have been in charge, the local leaders of the grouping… It seems evident that the awareness by the defendant of the camorristic infiltration in the politics of Campania, together with the close relationship kept with the local leaders of his grouping and with the political institutions of this territory, as well as the omission of possible interventions of denunciation and fighting against the system that had by then been set up in the zone, constitute important elements for investigation from which it is possible to deduce the co-penetration of the defendant in this system, as has been evidenced by the public accusers… Gava has not been found to be concretely activated, as leader of the DC grouping or in his functions as a Minister, to put a stop to the phenomenon of political-criminality contamination in the territory of Campania; as no initiative he adopted for the suspension of the local councillors, of which even though he was aware of the closeness to the camorra, their suspension was made possible by the law that came into force when he was still Minister of the Interior.» So basically, the Minister of the Interior Gava was with the State but also with the camorra. If this, to use the words of professor Galasso, is «always coming out well from any tribunal», then a street is not enough. Gava deserves at least an equestrian monument.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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9 August 2008

Medellin on the Mediterranean

Here is a reprint of an article published in the British weekly "The Economist", entitled "The thin green line".

GUNNERS secured Milan’s Piazza del Duomo; paratroops took up position outside St John Lateran in Rome; and Alpine mountain troops in feathered headgear helped police raid a drug-pushers’ open-air hangout in Turin.
Italy is hardly Colombia. There is not even a warning of imminent terrorist attack. So why this air of national emergency? The government of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, ordered the army on to the streets on August 4th to quell what it says is a crisis in law and order.
Three thousand soldiers will be employed on public-order duties. Most will be replacing police on guard at immigrant detention centres and near potential terrorist targets like embassies. About 1,000 will patrol alongside the police. The government says they will stay on the streets for at least six months.
A timely study by Censis, a research institute, casts some doubt on the government’s premise that crime is running out of control. In 2006 there were fewer murders in Italy than in Germany, France or Britain; one is more likely to be killed in Brussels than in Rome.
Murder rates are not the same as crime rates, however. Government figures show that the total number of offences has been rising by 6-7% annually. What seems to have risen faster is public anxiety. Another survey, for an insurance company foundation, Unipolis, published on July 27th, found that Italians saw crime as the main cause of insecurity, and almost half connected lawbreaking with foreigners.
The government attributes its election victory in April to Mr Berlusconi’s pledge to get tough on crime. Putting troops on the streets sends a message to his voters that it intends to deliver on that pledge. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most Italians find the troops’ presence reassuring.
Whether they will help stem crime is another matter. General Mario Buscemi, who led the last deployment of the army in Italian towns, to tackle the Mafia in the 1990s, recalled that he had 20,000 men just for Sicily. The current operation, he said, was “substantially symbolic”. The soldiers do not have powers of arrest, nor are they properly trained or equipped for policing operations.
One widely voiced fear is that the sight of troops could scare off tourists. The mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, a member of Mr Berlusconi’s Freedom People movement, has fought a running battle to keep uniformed soldiers out of the city centre. Italy may not be Colombia, but it might start to look like it.
Amid the melodrama—including the “emergency” over the arrival of migrants on boats from north Africa and the eviction of gypsies—there is a nagging question. Why is a government so tough on crime yet so indulgent about corruption?
Among Mr Berlusconi’s first acts in government were closing the office of the high commissioner against corruption and passing a law that means he himself will not have to answer to bribery charges.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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Flashbulb security

The holiday period may well be upon us, however, politics cannot afford to go on holiday because, while the citizens are away on holiday, someone is bound to take advantage and try to slip through a few more little legal provisions. That is why we, the Only Opposition, will continue to keep you informed with regard to what is boiling in the pot, holidays or no holidays.
Please allow me to highlight a couple of issues, amongst the many, which are dear to our hearts. One of these is an issue that has already begun and is still ongoing, while the other is one that is about to begin. I am referring to the use of the armed forces to ensure security in the cities, and here I refer to what is being planned for the Expo, namely, a huge gathering of all the best achievements in the fields of entrepreneurship, engineering and quality that can be achieved worldwide, in other words, the future: how do we build it and who is busy doing so now. These are two important issues that are close to our heart and that we want to make you think about.
Let’s begin by looking at the issue of security. It is one thing to talk about security, while ensuring real, day-to-day security is totally another. You cannot claim to be providing greater security in the streets when you have just proceeded to cut security funding by some 3 billion Euro. All you are doing is “pretending” or perhaps “trying to prove a point”, but you are certainly not improving security. That is why we have been so critical of late, and we want to reiterate these criticisms and, together with you, reflect on the fraud that is being perpetrated by resorting to the use of the military, and this is not in any way because we are against the military.
If we were forced to choose between a soldier and a delinquent, would there be any question regarding which we would choose? We respect our military and we don’t want to see them involved in any play-acting. Heaven forbid! “Hats off” to our soldiers, but we shouldn’t be trying to pull a fast one on the citizens by deploying a mere 3000 soldiers throughout the entire country, which amounts to a couple of hundred per Region, or one or two per town, which must then be partnered with a policeman and a member of the Carabinieri. This amounts to nothing more than showboating, with the actors freshly shaved and wearing new costumes. This is no way to tackle the problem. What is needed is some sort of day-to-day action to help in the daily battle against organised crime.
Our policemen no longer even have adequate uniforms to wear. They cannot even afford to gain or lose any weight whatsoever, because they only have their present uniforms to wear and there are no funds available to provide them with any new ones. Are you aware of precisely what is envisaged in the new law regarding the use of the military? On the one hand they are saying that they want to use the military because there is a need for more personnel in order to successfully fight this battle. On the other hand, meanwhile, provision is being made for any policemen and Carabinieri squad members who have worked more than six hours of overtime to be given a day off in lieu of the overtime worked. I don’t understand this: is there or is there not a need for greater security? You are saying that there is a need, however, once every four days you proceed to give the people a day off in lieu of overtime worked, so all you are in fact doing is removing a number of security guards from the streets. Don’t cut the amount of personnel. Rather increase the personnel numbers and the financial resources allocated to security. That is our criticism.
Don’t let yourselves be fooled by a stirring image of a soldier marching through the imperial forums. A soldier is, and always will be entitled to arrest any thief that he may catch in the act, but the day-to-day battle against crime and the day-to-day need for security cannot be met by taking away 3 billion Euro and replacing it with mere smoke and mirrors.

The full version of the discussion will follow shortly.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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7 August 2008

Italy seen from abroad

Abroad they see us as in yesterday’s article in The Financial Times: "Italy gets tough on crime but neglects corruption", that I have given below. Unfortunately, the FT is not an isolated case criticizing Italian politics since the last elections. From time to time I will publish the articles relating to Italy taken from the most prestigious international publications. Those who follow the blog will have the impression that foreigners are much better informed about Italy than we are.

Download the article in English

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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5 August 2008

Calumny is back

”There’s something new today in the air, in fact something ancient” I recalled only a few days ago, giving a timely warning of the risks of delegitimisation that the Pescara magistrates are suffering.

It’s not as though, in relation to myself they have done or are doing differently. Perhaps someone will have already noticed: they are putting together a new poison campaign about myself and about Italia dei Valori and the prime mover is "Il Giornale" (the family newspaper to be clear) that today is shooting real high, so much so that it will be taken to the Tribunal. Last week, an innocent birthday party, at which I participated together with so many others, was transformed into a fantastic story of lovers. Today the direct attack, inventing an inexistent connection between Italia dei Valori and my properties. In fact, not just mine, but also those that my wife has earned with her work.

To be truthful, it is an activity of “dirty information” done by many hands for which in past years many of the protagonists , even current ones, have been found guilty by the various Tribunals for defamation and/or calumny. That’s what happened in 1994 with the "dossier Gorrini" which was the context for my resignation as a prosecutor, that’s what happened in 1996 with the "dossier D'Adamo" and above all with the "Fonte Achille" dossier which led to my resignation as a Minister.

From these activities of dossier-making, I always defended myself right in the judicial locations and many protagonists of yesterday and today have had to pay mounds of money in compensation for the damages. To those of "Il Giornale" who are asking where I have obtained the money to buy some property, I respond that it has been acquired, other than with my own money and that of my wife or with mortgages, also with the money that "Il Giornale" has already had to shell out over the years for the numerous defamations carried out against me.

Soon I will put on the Internet, copies of the cheques that they have paid me, the last of which was in the last few days on behalf of two journalists of that newspaper who had unjustly accused me. Even the next apartment I will be buying with the money that they will have to pay for the umpteenth defamation of current days. Certainly, I’m not taking money from the coffers of Italia dei Valori, as they can verify by viewing the accounts published online (www.italiadeivalori.it under the heading “Bilanci e Finanze”), that are anyway in credit, to prove that no one has taken anything away.

However, the issue is different and it is completely political: why is this happening? Above all, why is it happening again? In the 1990s they wanted to exorcize the relationship of trust and the personal following that I represented as a consequence of my activity as a magistrate in the Clean Hands investigation. Now, 15 years later, now that I have managed to get the Italia dei Valori party to take off, they are trying to drain the consensus from it since our political and electoral success is creating fear.

On a personal level I am not giving up and I will once more defend myself in the appropriate setting. On a political level, it is necessary to have a reflection and to take serious action on how to go about things. In particular, with which allies, given that we are not popular with almost all the national political system.

Let us prepare ourselves for the collection of signatures for the referendum against the "Lodo Alfano": it’s the best response to those who want to stop us!

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2 August 2008

Let the Web be free of Mediaset and Veltroni

Yesterday, Mediaset shares lost another 4.31%. Since the beginning of the year they have dropped by a total of 32.53%. The company’s operating results are going downhill: 644.3 million Euro during the first half of 2008, down from 699.9 million in 2007. Mediaset makes its livelihood from advertising. Thanks to the Italian Government’s concession to broadcast on no less than three channels, Berlusconi is able to share the television advertising cake with RAI, through Publitalia, in what is essentially a monopoly. Everyone wishing to advertise on television must go via Publitalia. Craxi’s government concession, renewed by subsequent centre-left governments, has made Berlusconi a wealthy man. This is the great entrepreneur’s only secret to success. But is Mediaset’s advertising empire busy tottering? It has become necessary to divert the attention away from the account books and to find a suitable scapegoat, and who better than the Web? The 500 million Euro claim against Google for having permitted the viewing of clips drawn from Mediaset, on YouTube, is nothing more than a desperate measure adopted by someone who feels that he is about to be overwhelmed by change.
Within the next few years, perhaps the next three to five years, online advertising expenditure will overtake that spent on the print media and on television. In many countries, the time spent viewing the content of the Web now exceeds the amount of time that people spend in front of the television. The Internet is free and should remain so. I do not agree, neither with the intimidation tactics used by Mediaset, which, we mustn’t forget, is backed by Berlusconi and, therefore, by the Italian Government (which would be somewhat like CNN being able to count on Bush’s support in a court case because he owned the broadcaster), nor that there is any need, as claimed by Veltroni, to set some new rules (what rules?) or new laws for a new system of sharing (what kind?). All I want to say to anyone who surfs on the net: don’t post any clips drawn from Mediaset and, if you have done so already, then delete the postings. Mediaset should stay where it is; the Internet is no place for it.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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27 July 2008

Misinformation by the Caste

Here is a video clip and the text of my speech yesterday at the street gathering in Pescara.
"I want to thank you, above all for having the patience to stay and listen to us even though it is such a beautiful evening, in such a beautiful town and such a beautiful location and tourist destination. Thank you, because we felt a need to come here now to discuss things with you, to accept our responsibilities and to tell you how we see things, so that you may be aware of what the current situation is from our point of view and decide accordingly. I am saying this because the last thing we want is for the policy with regard to the Abruzzo Region to continue being decided upon in some or other secret little room in the corridors of power, where the cake is shared out behind the citizens’ backs. What has happened recently could only have happened because, notwithstanding the handover of government power from one coalition to another, the methods have not changed at all. Nor have the people behind the scenes.
While the beneficiary has changed, yesterday there was one and today there is someone else, the person that pulls the strings still remains the same. We need to work this out together, so I will tell you how I have decided to split up this speech of mine. Firstly I would like to look at what happened here recently, and why, followed by a historic and explanatory analysis and then, finally, I want to explain what we of the Italia dei Valori party intend to do, how we intend to do it and with whom, so that you can hear it directly from us rather than reading about it in tomorrow’s newspapers, because all you will see in the newspapers is: “I am not saying this or that, or I did not say this or that and that this is not what happened but it will nevertheless be reported tomorrow”, also because, unless I am very much mistaken, that is pretty much what happened in Piazza Navona.
In Piazza Navona, in one way or another, the comedians did what comedians do and, after all, what else should they do? For far too long now, politicians have been carrying on like comedians, and that is precisely the problem because it has meant that comedians have been doing the work of politicians. But what was the real problem as regards Piazza Navona? Was it perhaps the public accusations levelled at certain people who went into Government and promptly proceeded promulgate laws that are solely in their own interests? No one wants to talk about it and they would rather talk about anything else. Tomorrow they will say that Di Pietro came here today to kill off the Democratic Party. The real problem has nothing to do with killing off this or that party, partly because very few of the existing parties are truly able to say “We had nothing to do with it”, which is why so few of them have had the courage to be here today, and furthermore, because it is not true that the blame lies with the parties themselves.
The blame lies with the people, those who sometimes go with one party and sometimes with another, those who sometimes stick their fingers in one cookie jar and sometimes in another. The problem is not the parties themselves, because there are also a number of people within the parties that not only do their duty, but that dedicate their lives to the party. A number of people have been murdered in the name of politics, and here we remember people all the way through from Moro to Pio La Torre, Mattarella and a number of others.
Let’s stop laying the blame on this or that party. I did not come here to run anyone down, but rather, I came here to assume my responsibilities and because it is about time that politicians start taking responsibility.
For some time now, we of the Italia dei Valori party have been talking about what has been going on in Abruzzo and that there is a need to pass the torch on to a new generation of politicians, because we need to see some new faces. Everyone is quick to tell me how badly I speak Italian and that I am impossible to understand, but have they changed their faces or not? I may well speak Italian badly, but they, in turn, have done absolutely nothing to resolve the real problem. All they are doing is attempting to divert attention, so we felt that it was necessary for us to come here and explain our thoughts regarding what has occurred and what we intend to do about it. I think that this is only right, because that is what transparency and politics is all about.
They accuse us of practicing anti-politics, simply because we take to the streets. Anti-politics is the kind that steals money, not the people standing here talking to you. Anti-politics is what is practiced by those that use Government money for their own purposes and to share out amongst themselves.
What actually happened in Abruzzo, you ask? Firstly, we must understand that any potential criminal liability will have to be established by the judges. I didn’t come here to discuss the potential criminal liability of Giovanni, Nicola, Francesco or Maria. That is the magistrate’s task, however, there is the glaring matter of political liability: for a system that we were well aware of and that allowed those that wanted to profit from it to do so. This is the political aspect of the situation, and what happened in Abruzzo is pretty much the same thing that is happening throughout the whole of Italy, at all levels, namely a sense of impunity felt by those working within the public institutions. They know that, in any event, they will be allowed to get away with it, partly because of the suspension of pending court cases, partly because of the reduced funding of the forces of law and order, partly because of the expediting of court cases, partly because it is being made increasingly difficult to hand out justice and partly because the magistrates are constantly being accused of theorising.
I don’t know if you have noticed. Since the Abruzzo inquiry began, I have felt almost as if I was living in a different kind of society. The politicians have been attempting to outdo each other as regards trying to send the corrupt officials to jail and coming out in support of some or other Tom, Dick or Harry. However, what about someone coming forward to support these magistrates that are doing their job? No? The ink had hardly dried on the precautionary measures when, from abroad, Berlusconi had already begun to claim that the entire episode was another example of theorising. But hang on a moment! Had he perhaps seen any documentation’ No, he does this as a matter of course.
I am telling you this now so that you can remember my words when the regime newspapers resume their attacks. Do you know what will happen at the end of this inquiry? A number of people will be released, which is only right since the inquiry is aimed at establishing whether or not any crime was committed. Others will be remanded for trial and will have their day in court. As soon as anyone is released, certain people will say: “Did you see how that poor bugger was falsely accused?” The fact is that the Judge did not accuse him but has simply been trying to ascertain whether he too was fooled or whether he actually took part. In any ruling junta or body consisting of ten people who are charged with governing, it is not essential that they should always fully agree on everything. It may happen that five of them agree and the remaining five are convinced in some other way. There are even certain people that make a decision in good faith based on information that has been manipulated by others and an inquiry is specifically intended to investigate such eventualities. When, at the end of the court case, someone is released and someone else is convicted, it is not because the Judge has made a mistake, but because he has been charged with investigating the matter in order to then decide who is right and who is wrong.
The reason why I am telling you this here and now, face to face, is because I have become accustomed to regularly reading an entirely different story in the newspapers."

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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25 July 2008

Abruzzo: Let's have some new faces

After the whole legal tsunami that recently hit the Abruzzo Region, we are here to try to find out what can be done. Let’s make one thing very, very clear: that which has happened in Abruzzo is no different to what is happening in the healthcare sector in all of the other Regions as well.
There is no such thing as a right wing coalition and a left wing coalition. All there is, is bribery and corruption across the board, a kind of bribery federalism that, since the healthcare federalism began transferring resources from the Government to the Regions, has also begun transferring bribery and corruption from Central Government to Regional Government.
Irrespective of any personal guilt, which is strictly legal in nature, there is also a certain political guilt that is monumental. Here in the Abruzzo Region, from where I am currently talking to you, the judges are discovering some pretty incredible things, far worse than the Milan “Tangentopoli” scandal, involving all of the parties from the centre-right through to the centre-left. While the coalitions in Government may well have changed, the people in charge of the money have always been the same, paying off first one side, then the other.
So what can we do now? We must go ahead and bring in a new generation of people at the top. The Italia dei Valori party has been saying this for some time now. Unless we bring in some new faces, the political situation will not change.
Here in Abruzzo they are asking us whether we will be joining this or that party. We have no interest in joining any of the big-name parties. What does interest us is to stand beside the people, and so we are turning to civil society so that, together, we can build a new political class, one with clean hands, in order to give a Region back its dignity and let it be an example for all of the other Regions, where a variety of scandals have either already exploded, or are about to do so.
That is why I believe that, at this moment in time, the important thing is not to join this or that party, but rather to congregate with good people who decide to go into politics in order to avoid putting the political power back in the hands of the same old people.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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8 July 2008

8 July Live Broadcast

Tomorrow, 8 July, we will be demonstrating in Piazza Navona starting from 6:00pm. It will be possible to follow the Live Streaming on this blog, on the Italia dei Valori portal and also on c6tv. Furthermore there’ll be live broadcasting on Canale Libera (924 of Sky), Sky TG24 and in audio on Radio Radicale.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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19 June 2008

Open your eyes

The PDL is lying about wiretaps and it is using false numbers or partial information taking it out of context from the peculiarities of each country. But no surprise, when it is continually lying, in the end, it all becomes simpler because who listens to you no longer believes you, or at least they think that it’s exactly the opposite of what you are saying. Everything becomes paradoxically clear.

In the United States, a country that puts you on file for entering the country by taking your finger prints and taking a photo. CIA and FBI are intercepting millions of people, but no one can know this and neither will the number be revealed. In the United States, Mafia, 'Ndrangheta, Camorra, Sacra corona unita don’t exist or if they exists it’s because we have exported them.

In the United States, if you lie to the citizens you are out of the game. We still remember Nixon in Watergate and Clinton risked a lot with his declarations about the Lewinsky case.

In the United States, a man who is continually on trial, would never have been elected President of the Council, because the press, the TV, the radio would have torn him to pieces even before the Primaries.

Enough lying. My appeal is to the citizens: Open your eyes.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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8 June 2008

“Il Giornale’s” lies

"The truth about Clean Hands” could well be the title of a book written by yours truly or by one of my colleagues from the Milan pool, that pool that gave back some dignity to this Country in the 90’s by reporting, unmasking and then incarcerating a network of political corruption that was strangling the Italian economy and business in general, the honest part that is. Instead no, it is an article published in the 5th June edition of “Il Giornale” and written by Geronimo, the pseudonym used by Paolo Cirino Pomicino.
We read in the article that, in Pomicino’s opinion, the problem was not so much the bribes, but rather the failure of the attempts made to decriminalise the offence of illegal party financing. The content of this article should not really come as any surprise to anyone. Paolo Cirino Pomicino himself is, in fact, a man who remained in the institutions for a long time, thanks to the some generous and interested support that he received, notwithstanding the fact that he was sentenced to one year and eight months of imprisonment for illegal financing (in the Enimont bribery case) and a further plea-bargained 2 months for corruption with regard to Eni’s slush funds.
However, the thing that really provokes a profound sense of outrage is the fact that the media have once again welcomed someone like Cirino Pomicino with open arms into their public broadcasts and newspaper columns with articles such as that published in “Il Giornale”. Public funds being used for the purpose of providing at outlet where finally sentenced criminals can talk, protect, pontificate about the people under investigation, statute-barred offenders and corrupt individuals that are a part of the current Italian political scene.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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7 June 2008

Absolution of De Magistris: where is the media now?

The Salerno Public Prosecutor’s Office has defined the accusations levelled at Public Prosecutor Luigi De Magistris as being "exploitative claims and attempted deligitimisation". All the allegations levelled against him are totally unfounded and amount to nothing more than pure slander and defamation, abuse of power, failure to fulfil with the duty of abstention, and leaked information. All in all, these are nothing more than unfounded accusations.
The political masters behind these acts of defamation and obstruction of justice must be made to pay the price. Those responsible for the television news broadcasts and the newspaper headlines must be made to explain to all Italians precisely why the media paid so much attention to the Public Prosecutor’s detractors at that time, while now, after the announcement that the charges have all been withdrawn, they have either relegated the news to the middle pages or have not mentioned it altogether.
Here is another article on the same topic, written by Marco Travaglio, which appeared in today’s edition of “l’Unità” and with which I agree entirely, as well as the application by the Salerno Public Prosecutor’s Office to have the case archived (read the document).

The Upper Council
"Innocent! Do you understand? Innocent! And this according to the Salerno Public Prosecutor who has, for the past three years, received a flurry of complaints from the man’s superiors and those people that he was investigating, and now states that Luigi de Magistris never did anything illegal. The case must be archived because he always acted with absolute propriety.
There were never any leaks made to the press, he never handed any confidential documents to any journalist, he never persecuted nor defamed anybody, nor did he ever abuse his power. If anything, it was his superiors that committed these offences against him, namely, the very same offences that they then tried to pin on him. Salerno Public Prosecutors Nuzzi and Verasani write that: «As a result of his investigations, Dr. De Magistris has had to endure constant pressures, interference and other actions aimed at the his forcible removal from the Catanzaro courts and the removal of his investigatory powers». A plot that involved judges, politicians, the forces of law and order, ministerial inspectors and perhaps even certain members of the Upper Council of the Magistrature, all of whom were alarmed by the «intensity and decisiveness of his investigations ». A plot that was apparently very successful, especially if you consider the fact that the judges and politicians that were under investigation by De Magistris, including those arranged for the tapping of reporters and the forces of law and order’s telephone conversations in an indirect attempt to investigate the Public Prosecutor himself, have either remained at their post or have gotten ahead, while De Magistris was snatched away from his most controversial investigations (Poseidone and Why Not) and then transferred out by the Upper Council of the Magistrature after having being banned from ever again working as a Public Prosecutor. One of those under investigation at the time, namely former judge and former governor Fi Chiaravalloti, had already made certain predictions in a telephone call in which he suggested that the awkward prosecutor be entrusted to the tender mercies of the camorra stating that: «De Magistris will spend the rest of his life defending himself». Obviously Chiaravalloti remained in his post as second in charge of the Privacy Authority. Unless the Court of Cassation overturns the Upper Council of the Magistrature’s decision, De Magistris will, instead, have to move out of Catanzaro and will never again be able to conduct any investigations. In any normal country, where it may be admitted but certainly not accepted that such shameful things do happen, by now there would have been a queue of people standing at the magistrate’s door, waiting to apologise. However, in this country of shame, no one ever apologises. All that yet remains to be seen now that the 900-page decision handed down by the Salerno Public Prosecutor’s Office has been submitted is whether or not the Upper Council of the Magistrature will bother to do anything about it. Not against De Magistris (the Council has already done more than enough in this regard), but against those that «orchestrated a whole series of actions against him», in order to muddy «the official and substantive propriety of his investigations», in other words, against that «judicial context marred by an alarming number of cases of usurpation of roles and strongly influenced by non-judicial interests, some of which also happened to be decidedly illegal», And against those that targeted him, levelling «charges that were ungrounded, exploitative and serious. Against those senior judges from Catanzaro and Potenza who leaked confidential information regarding De Magistris’ investigations so as to be able to lay the blame for these indiscretions at his door. You may be tempted to say: “But these things have only now come to light”. But you would be wrong, because the Upper Council of the Magistrature have known about this since last October when Public Prosecutors Nuzzi and Verasani were received at Palazzo dei Marescialli, where they gave those present a preview of the conclusions that emerged from their investigations. They announced that the accusations levelled against De Magistris were the result of careful orchestration (while his investigations were instead «fit and proper, without any evidence of information being leaked») and that the only offences that emerged, and very serious ones at that, involved precisely De Magistris’ superiors and those people that he was busy investigating. They even named the names of certain judges from Catanzaro, Matera and Potenza, as well as those of ministerial inspectors, journalists, certain politicians and certain businessmen under investigation, even in Salerno, on charges of judicial corruption, making threats, slander and leaking confidential information, all to De Magistris’ detriment. They stated that there was evidence pointing to interference in his investigations by his superiors, namely Lombardi and Murone. Appalling revelations that should have led to the summary suspension of the magistrates involved and an immediate halt being called to all disciplinary proceedings against the Public Prosecutor. At this point, De Magistris’ defence asked that everything be put on hold until the Salerno investigations had been completed. The Upper Council of the Magistrature refused to listen to reason and proceeded to call out the firing squad. Almost as if the death sentence had already been written previously. Fortunately, contrary to the macabre predictions expressed by Chiaravalloti, De Magistris no longer has to defend himself and he will now be hoping that someone else will be take his place Upper Council of the Magistrature. There is now a judge in Berlin and another, in fact, in Salerno."

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31 May 2008

Otto e Mezzo

On the 28th May I was a guest on the “Otto e Mezzo” programme. Here are some of my comments on a number of topics, such as the Italia dei Valori party’s opposition to the Government, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s unsuitability for politics, my connections with Travaglio, Grillo and Santoro, and the Rai review board.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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28 May 2008

The only opposition: No Rete4 Tax

It’s useless launching reforms to distract the general public with manoevres that on the one hand give the illusion that citizens will pay less, and on the other hand take directly from their pockets by obliging the Italian State to pay a fine of 128 million euro a year, a fine that we call the “Rete4 Tax”.
Below I’m publishing an interview I gave to journalists during Italia dei Valori’s demonstration organised just by Palazzo Montecitorio.


Antonio Di Pietro: On the occasion of the vote of confidence we said that you can’t trust Berlusconi, and the first actions he has taken are, once more, for himself and his companies, and don’t let him come to us to say, with all the problems of the country that it’s not necessary to tackle this issue: it’s exactly for this reason that Berlusconi should not have inserted this in this measure.
He should have put in measures that are useful for security, to give confidence to the country, to give back international credibility, but instead what does he do? He does a law that says that everything existing up to now as regards TV frequencies has to continue as it is.
This is why we of Italia dei Valori have constructed a really strong opposition in Parliament, and a grass roots information structure in the whole country and we have asked and been granted that the Head of State meets us and that we want to use the documents to show that it’s a lie to say that this measure is not for Rete4 but to give transparency to the TV system.

There’s only one way to give transparency to the TV system. It’s an article of half a line: “the verdict of the European Court of Justice is in operation immediately”. After that all the consequences follow.
Instead, what is written in this measure? Without taking into account the verdict of the European Court of Justice, those who have frequencies keep them, those who have no frequencies can take a running jump. It seems to me that the age old principle of “what’s done is done” cannot exist in a democratic State as Berlusconi would like it to.

We have asked for a meeting with Napolitano and we hope that this can happen before the voting in the House, really because we hope that the President of the Republic will not confirm the measure, at least as concerns the part that does not put into action the European requirement, but in fact that goes against it.
We believe that the regulation relating to the radio and TV system today presented by the Berlusconi government is a trick measure, because it turns upside down the decision of the European Court of Justice and of the European Commission.


Journalist: Today Cicchitto has confirmed his block on the name of your man in the controlling authority of the RAI.
Antonio Di Pietro: Since the beginning of parliamentary practice in a parliamentary democracy, some guaranteed positions have always been reserved for the opposition exactly so that they can do the work of opposition.
A majority that wants to choose its opposition and even who it is that is doing the opposing just shows that they are an undemocratic majority and they show once more that we are faced with a sweet dictatorship.
Anyway, let me say, in relation to the first action that Italia dei Valori took in Parliament we felt that we were under the gaze of the President of the Chamber who said to us: “if you don’t want to be contested, watch how you speak, don’t speak if you are disturbing the one who does the manoevres” Now what is said? “Given that your opposition is a clear opposition, determined, noticeable, do you know what I will do? The roles of guarantee and the roles that are due to the opposition, I will not give you but I will give to someone else.”
I’m sorry, but if all this has to happen in silence we are not standing for it. That’s why today we have decided to go out into the streets, and we will go out into the streets every day to give out information to the general public and especially through the Internet, because we are convinced that an informed public will not allow themselves to be tricked by the one who uses the institutions to do his own business.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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26 May 2008

Passaparola Monday 26 May

At 2:00pm (Italian time) I will broadcast live Marco Travaglio’s weekly column. You will be able to see the live streaming by connecting through this blog.

Appointment for tomorrow in piazza Montecitorio.

Our battle for the rule of law and the respect of the European Court of Justice’s verdict like all verdicts, will see us once more in the streets tomorrow, to contest the approval of the amendment that would save Rete4 as put forward by the Berlusconi government, going against any respect of the rule of law, that in every other country would be considered to be an outrage against the State based on rights and against the citizens. Anyone who holds the freedom of information dear to their hearts and the respect of the rule of law, is invited to join us of Italia dei Valori on Tuesday 27, in Piazza Montecitorio, starting from 11 am, to express their disapproval of what would be a new shameful, “ad personam” law.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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18 May 2008

Spread the Word

Santoro said ironically that once a “band of four” (himself, Grillo, Travaglio and myself) have been removed from the scene, Italy can move towards modernization. He’s wrong. A few million Italians would also need to be removed too.
Italians are not blind, nor deaf, they are just kept in the dark about the facts, happenings, stories, power games and are often deprived of information, true information.
The freedom of information is this country’s priority, because it is on the basis of free and independent information that every democracy flourishes.
Grillo’s blog will transmit every Monday at 2:00pm Italian time, in live streaming, a speech by Marco Travaglio. Anyone who wants to can broadcast it direct from their own blog. I will do that.
As I repeated many times in my speech on 25 April while I was adding my signature for the three referenda, they will not manage to put to sleep the conscience of the Italians, because Italians want to stay awake.
Make a date with this blog tomorrow at 2:00pm Italian time. Spread the word.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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16 May 2008

Agcom partiality