Mani pulite: Encyclopedia II - Mani pulite - Extension of Anti-corruption Investigations

Mani pulite - Extension of Anti-corruption Investigations

In the 1992 elections, the DC party lost many votes, but managed to keep a small majority, while the opposition gained votes. There was however no opposition leadership, and many votes went to Lega Nord, a party that was not inclined to alliances at the time. The resulting parliament was therefore weak and difficult to bring to an agreement, and new elections arrived as soon as 1994.

During April 1992, many industrial figures and politicians, especially from the majority parties but also from the opposition, were arrested with charges of corruption. While the investigations started in Milan, they quickly spread from town to town, as more and more politicians confessed. A grotesque situation occurred when a Socialist politician confessed immediately all his crimes to two Carabinieri that had come to his house, only to later discover they had come to deliver a simple fine.

Fundamental to this exponential expansion was the general attitude of the main politicians to drop support for minor politicians who got caught; this made many of them feel betrayed, and they often mentioned many other politicians, who in turn would mention even more.

On May 23 1992, judge Giovanni Falcone, in charge of the antimafia pool, was murdered with his wife and three bodyguards by a bomb underneath the highway from Palermo's airport to the city. A few months later, his colleague Paolo Borsellino was assassinated in a car bomb via d'Amelio. Mafia boss Salvatore Riina was arrested in 1993 and, with Giovanni Brusca, was emprisoned for both murder.

On September 2, 1992, the socialist politician Sergio Moroni, charged with corruption, committed suicide. He left a letter pleading guilty, declaring that crimes were not for his personal gain but for the party's benefit, and accused the financing system of all parties. His daughter, Chiara Moroni, is today a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Silvio Berlusconi's majority.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Extension of Anti-corruption Investigations", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki