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Antonio Di Pietro

90 quotes

“I also read in the newspapers that the Clean Hands investigation was an investigation into corruption; you know that's not true, right? It's an investigation into false accounting.”
Antonio Di Pietro (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Raul Gardini) Fifteen minutes earlier, I spoke with his lawyer and we agreed that he would come to me, of his own free will and with his hands free, and he would tell me how things stood. Then, evidently out of pride, he committed suicide.”
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“We did what any radiologist does when you go for an X-ray to see if you have a disease; we discovered that our country was sick with endemic corruption.”
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“I am at an age where I have to look ahead to the years that remain, and before I leave, before I close my eyes, I would very much like to shake hands with all those who have had dealings with me, even those who opposed me.”
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“I attribute a fundamental role to Grillo. In moments of total disappointment, protest explodes. I remember 1968 well, even though I was on the side of the police. Grillo deserves credit for channeling the protest.”
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“From the end of the First Republic onwards, new ideas and people to carry them forward should have emerged. Instead, that investigation created a huge void, and figures appeared on the political scene who were there more for themselves than for anything else, starting with me. I am thinking of Berlusconi, Bossi, Salvini, and Renzi.”
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“I have always found the conflict between those who defend civil liberties and those who defend justice misleading. I am and always have been in favor of respecting the law.”
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“I would do it all again. I have had many jobs, as a police officer, a magistrate, a politician, and I do not regret anything, least of all Mani Pulite. But as a magistrate, I convicted people, not a system. Those people represented political ideas. Some put them into practice by doing their duty, such as Aldo Moro or Giorgio La Pira, while others used their position for personal gain.”
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“(About the political consequences of Mani pulite) Mani Pulite created a vacuum: that's when personal parties began, starting with me. But these parties last only a morning, and I am living proof of that.”
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“The M5S has done one positive thing: it has contributed to the renewal of the ruling class. I don't agree with statements like those made by Di Maio, who says that the Five Star Movement is the best. That's a statement that scares me.”
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“I didn't discover Mani pulite: it came about as a result of the investigation into the maxi-trial in Palermo, when Giovanni Falcone received confidential information from Tommaso Buscetta that an agreement had been made between the Ferruzzi Group and the mafia. That's where it began. Falcone tasked the ROS (Special Operations Group) with compiling what would become a 980-page report, which was supposed to go to Falcone, but he was transferred.”
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“If Salvo Lima hadn't died, I would have asked Parliament to arrest Andreotti. [...] In reality, I never had a relationship with Craxi. I was targeting the criminal environment surrounding Andreotti. [...] Andreotti's case was time-barred in 1980; it's not that he was acquitted. And on the other side there was the mayor, Vito Ciancimino, and Salvo Lima. So, I mean: that was the real power. [...] Mani Pulite was not stopped by politics: it was stopped by the judges. It's a story that needs to be rewritten sooner or later.”
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“Two years to carry out Mani pulite and four to defend myself from the consequences.”
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“What is most striking about the events surrounding magistrates Luigi De Magistris and Clementina Forleo is that the investigations they were conducting have been completely obscured. No one talks about Why Not and Unipol anymore. We are going beyond the metaphor of the finger pointing at the moon. Here, they have made the moon disappear altogether and left us only with the finger to look at. :*I processi scomparsi (The disappeared trials), December 4, 2007.”
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“[...] deaths at work are no surprise; ThyssenKrupp, with its endless list of deaths, the latest just today, is just the latest episode. Penalties must be severely increased and the number of inspectors increased. Anyone who causes the death of a worker through negligence must end up in jail without any reduction in sentence and without any pardon. :*Buon 2008 (Happy 2008), December 31, 2007.”
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“Tangentopoli never ended; on the contrary, it became a way of life that Italians learned to live with thanks to distorted models imposed by the political class and celebrated by an increasingly less independent media. :*La mia storia attraverso Tangentopoli (My story through Tangentopoli), September 16, 2008.”
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“After all, we saw it in the USA, where Obama and McCain thanked each other and began working together immediately. But here we are not in a civilized country; here we need to remove the tumor. Now the problem is no longer even Berlusconi, it is the “Berlusconis.” They have infiltrated all levels of society, like a virus. The model is catching on, it is being replicated everywhere.”
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“The Internet is a free space where anyone can express their thoughts without having financial means or a membership card in their pocket. It is a space that gives hives to those who believe that the only freedom is to serve him. The freedom of servants. [...] I deeply believe in the Internet as a tool for democracy and I will do everything I can to prevent it from being controlled. The Internet is also more important for the country's development than oil. It moves information, processes, data, intelligence. It should not be controlled, it should be developed.”
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“But those who are involved in politics know that, for better or worse, they are stripped of everything. And I am also opposed to the idea of gagging information: there is a risk that citizens will no longer be able to know who they can trust and who they cannot. :*Abruzzo: un modello virtuoso (Abruzzo: a virtuous model), December 10, 2008.”
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“The PDL and Letizia Moratti have said no to the Anti-Mafia Commission for the control of contracts and supplies worth millions and millions of euros that will be invested in the 2015 Expo to be held in Milan. [...] Taking such a step, after the disturbing words of the deputy prosecutor of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, Vincenzo Macrì, who in June last year described Milan as the “true capital of the mafia,” is an inexplicable act that raises suspicions that they want a free hand to manage even contracts of dubious assignment.”
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“Some battles must be fought even though we know they may be lost, but in the overall picture they are essential to winning the war. :*from ‘’Tutti insieme appassionatamente, contro la mozione di Idv (All together passionately, against the Idv motion), May 28, 2009.”
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“There are two Pd, one in the territory where an alternative nucleus is being created with the Idv, and one in the political leadership made up of envy and dissatisfaction. We are involved in politics; it is not our fault if voters reward us. :*from ‘’I prefer to swim rather than drown‘’, May 29, 2009.”
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“The IDV is a popular party that arose spontaneously and does not want to be ideologically defined. It is opposing the Berlusconi government, with good reason, on economic, institutional, and judicial policy.”
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“A government that sees thousands of companies closing their doors every day, leaving just as many workers out on the street, and asks citizens, workers, and small business owners to take on the burden of solving a problem for which the state itself and its inefficiencies are primarily responsible, is not credible. :*‘’Le responsabilità di Draghi e Marcegaglia (The responsibilities of Draghi and Marcegaglia), May 30, 2009.”
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“They accuse me of persecuting a corruptor, of being a “sfascista” and anti-Berlusconi. I, on the other hand, feel like a partisan of the new resistance. I am in no hurry; time and the citizens will prove me right. :*‘’Le responsabilità di Draghi e Marcegaglia (The responsibilities of Draghi and Marcegaglia), May 30, 2009.”
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“As soon as he took office, Silvio Berlusconi restored unrestricted access to state flights with the knowledge and premeditation of wanting to make extensive use of them for friends, showgirls, attractive Big Brother contestants, singers, friends, and VIPs to be transported wherever needed for a personal favor or a party in Sardinia, which today appears to be more of a sex tourism destination than the summer residence of a Prime Minister.”
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“Italy is sinking with a GDP of -5% and a real unemployment rate of 10%, and they are toasting in the face of the citizens. :*“In the face of the citizens”, June 1, 2009.”
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“Craxi was not a statesman, he was merely the founder of the system of illegal party financing, a hardened corruptor and corrupt individual who destroyed the Italian economic system by basing it on patronage rather than meritocracy. A system whereby public contracts and works ended up in the hands of the highest bidder rather than the most capable. A man in whose shadow, as in the worst of nurseries, the first-rate politicians who now lead Italian parties grew up.”
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“The management of Rai, an offshoot of the government, on the one hand boycotts highly rated flagship programs such as Report by Gabanelli, Annozero by Santoro and Ballarò by Floris, while on the other hand devising failed strategies such as TivuSat and promoting biased reporting by individuals such as Minzolini and Vespa, who are to journalism what the electric chair is to human life.”
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“I believe that Italian citizens have the right to demonstrate in a civilised public square. One may disagree with what we have done and are doing, but is it not our right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to say that we are not convinced by the actions of certain people? And can we afford, Mr President of the Republic, to welcome into this square some of us who disagree with some of your silences? Can we or can we not? Or are we subversives? We are ordinary citizens who allow ourselves to say to you, Mr President of the Republic, that you should be the referee, but that sometimes your judgement seems to us to be neither that of a referee nor that of a third party. Can we say that or not? We respect you, we have a sense of the institutions, we want to be at peace. [...] Respectfully, respectfully, but respect is one thing, silence is another: silence kills, silence is mafia-like, silence is mafia behaviour. That is why we do not want to remain silent.”
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“Da Berlusconi un tipico discorso da vero e proprio ducetto: vuole azzerare la Costituzione e diventare il padre padrone della sua nuova azienda 'Italia'. Propone la riforma dei regolamenti parlamentari al solo fine di eliminare definitivamente quel che lui considera un inutile ingombro, ossia l'opposizione; pretende che vengano dati maggiori poteri al premier, cioè a lui, così avrà mano libera su quello che lui percepisce come una zavorra: la democrazia. Dopo il controllo dell'informazione, l'attacco all'indipendenza della magistratura, l'indebolimento del sindacato, ecco il potere assoluto, ultimo tassello per il compimento del piano di rinascita democratica della P2, di cui Berlusconi è un noto affiliato.”
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“Of course, you, Mr. Berlusconi, are not a prime minister, but a rapist of democracy, a rapist who, after the rape, made a law, or rather, twenty laws ‘'ad personam’' so as not to answer for his rape. You are not, as they have defined you, one of the many tentacles of the octopus... You are the head of the political octopus that in the last twenty years has appropriated the institutions in an anti-democratic and criminal way, to bend them to your personal interests and those of your accomplices, those of the deviant Masonic sect to which you belong. Today you spoke to us about the government's willingness to implement the fight against corruption, tax evasion, and the economic crimes of the cliques: and what are you going to do, arrest yourself? Or have you decided to slap yourself every morning when you get up and look in the mirror?”
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“(Referring to the episode of Annozero aired on December 16, 2010) Last night, in front of several million television viewers, the Minister of Defense in the government of Berlusconi, Ignazio La Russa, responded to my specific accusation that he was behaving like a Fascist by saying, "Yes. I am a fascist. I am proud to be a fascist." Can a minister of the Republic, the Minister of Defense, defend fascism, having the armed forces at his disposal? I want to appeal to President Giorgio Napolitano. The Minister of Defense of the Italian Republic has defended fascism. What are we waiting for to react? The return of a new fascism?”
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“(About the Monti government at the session to approve the law converting the simplification and development decree) It is good for Italians to know that you will be good fathers in your own homes, but you are bad fathers to Italians, because you do not think of all Italians, you only think of some of them, you only think of the lobbies, the caste, of doing favors for some and destroying the weakest part of the country. Let's be clear, Italia dei Valori knows very well why you were put there. You had to put the accounts in order, but you also had to make those who could pay the bill pay it, and not always the weakest and, above all, the most honest. We dispute the political choices you have made in your work.”
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“Even stones know it, so imagine if foreign and Italian investors do not know the reasons why Italy is in recession. The reasons are slow and exasperating bureaucracy, rampant corruption, and entrepreneurs who, instead of doing business, have been forced or reduced to acting as “bribe-takers” and fixers. This is why our country is not working. Our country does not work because there is an exasperating tax system. Our country does not work because the Italian state and public bodies, after requesting orders for work and products from companies, do not pay them. There are companies that are going bankrupt because the state does not pay for the products they have supplied or the work they have done. These are the reasons why our country does not work.”
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“(During the debate on the approval of the anti-corruption bill) You know that there are many cases in which loans or grants are awarded to people who apply to the public administration for a variety of reasons. Well, we ask you why, when it comes to a person convicted with a final criminal sentence for mafia activities, corruption, aiding and abetting embezzlement, or other very serious crimes, they should be allowed access to contributions from the state and the public administration, funding, charitable donations, and so on. Why can't we establish a principle whereby those who are honest, fair, and respect the law can access benefits, while criminals are denied them? It is a straightforward, formal, and precise request. Don't tell us, once again, that there is a delegation! Why don't we decide here? We are adopting a measure, so why do we have to postpone it to another date? Take on this responsibility too!”
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“I have always maintained, and still maintain today, that we did well to let the judiciary do its job, because only justice could ascertain the truth [about the events of the G8 in Genoa]. Today, with the cards on the table and the final measures in place, we have proven evidence of how the events unfolded. If there had been a parliamentary commission, there would have been a majority report and a minority report, and in parliament there would have been those who sided with one side and those who sided with the other, based on partisanship and not on the ascertainment of the facts. Today, the cards are on the table, and everyone must bow their heads and apologize.”
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“The death of Gardini is the real, great regret I have about the Mani Pulite season. For two reasons. The first: on July 23, Gardini was supposed to tell me everything: who he had given the billion lire he had brought to Botteghe Oscure, the headquarters of the Italian Communist Party, to; who the corrupt economic journalists were, in addition to those already revealed by Sama; and who the beneficiaries of the bulk of the Enimont bribe, safely stored in the Ior, were. The second reason: I could save Gardini. On the evening of the 22nd, shortly before midnight, the Carabinieri called me at my home in Curno to inform me that Gardini had arrived at his home in Piazza Belgioioso in Milan and asked me, “Doctor, what shall we do, shall we arrest him?” But I had given my word to the lawyers that he would arrive at the prosecutor's office on his own two feet the next morning. So I told them to let it go. If I had had him arrested immediately, he would still be here with us. :*, July 21, 2013.”
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“(About Fabio Salamone) the magistrate of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Brescia who repeatedly investigated me, bringing a myriad of charges against me, all of which were later dismissed by the judges “because the facts did not exist.” Of course, in the end I got justice, but those accusations were taken up and relaunched by others who had an interest in building a mountain of wickedness against me that I had not committed, with the aim of discrediting the work I had done as a magistrate and thus—by some insane transitive property—rendering irrelevant the filth I had uncovered about them. :*Capitolo 1: La vicenda Salamone (Chapter 1: the Salamone affair), September 2008.”
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“Mr. Prime Minister [Berlusconi], or rather Mr. President Videla, you are truly a model head of government Argentina. You have humiliated and continue to humiliate the Parliament every day with coups that violate every rule of parliamentary democracy. Just a few minutes ago, you promoted and carried out the latest provocative act promoting an anti-democratic drift, namely the appointment as president of the RAI Supervisory Commission of a person chosen by your majority. I say this to those listening live: this parliamentary majority has had the arrogance to choose even who should represent the opposition. This is typical behavior of Argentine dictatorships.”
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