In Italy, in 1992, an investigation set off an avalanche that shook the entire country. One man decided to take down the giant octopus and refused to let the Mafia flourish while those in power protected it.
Prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro and a team of investigators uncovered a vast network of political corruption, bribery and rigged government contracts.
Ministers, members of parliament, mayors, directors of state-owned companies and people from the very top of the political establishment came under scrutiny.
Thousands of people found themselves under investigation. Politicians who had once been untouchable were forced to answer questions from investigators and courts. Two former prime ministers ended up in prison. The first was Bettino Craxi, who was convicted in two corruption cases and sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison, before fleeing to Tunisia in 1994, where he died in 2000.
Arnaldo Forlani also fell, serving two years in prison in the Enimont case.
EVEN PRIME MINISTERS WERE NOT SPARED: Bettino Craxi and Arnaldo Forlani
In 1994, Paolo Berlusconi, an Italian businessman and younger brother of Silvio Berlusconi, was also arrested on suspicion of corruption connected to real estate deals.
THE BERLUSCONI FAMILY ALSO CAME UNDER SCRUTINY: Silvio and Paolo
Severino Citaristi, treasurer of the Christian Democracy party, also spent three years in prison in a scandal that nearly brought the party down.
The operation was given the name MANI PULITE – CLEAN HANDS.
His famous words are also remembered:
“Public office does not grant immunity from the law. Power is not permission to engage in corruption. And the state does not belong to politicians – it belongs to citizens. Because the true rule of law begins when the law applies equally to everyone.”
Di Pietro himself also came under investigation and, under pressure, resigned in 1994, by which time much of the work had already been done. Many of those arrested ended up spending the rest of their lives in prison, while some are still behind bars. Five years later, Di Pietro was cleared of the charges.
To this day, he remains a symbol of the fight against corruption in Italy. People sent him letters of gratitude in large numbers.
Source: Serbian Times / Radioaktivni komarac Foto: Mediji
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