HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Mani pulite'' (;
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian political parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were exposed.
Antonio Di Pietro Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor in the ''Mani Pulite'' corruption ...
was the main judicial figure in charge of the investigation. In some accounts, as many as 5,000 public figures fell under suspicion. At one point, more than half of the members of the Italian Parliament were under indictment, while more than 400 city and town councils were dissolved because of corruption charges. The estimated value of
bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...
s paid annually in the 1980s by Italian and foreign companies bidding for large government contracts reached
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
4 billion (6.5 trillion lire). The corrupt system uncovered by the investigation was referred to as ''Tangentopoli'' (). The term derives from Italian ''tangente'', which means ' kickback', and in this context refers to kickbacks given for public works contracts, and Greek '' polis'' meaning 'city'; it is thus sometimes translated as "Bribesville" or "Kickback City".


Arrest of Mario Chiesa

''Tangentopoli'' began on 17 February 1992 when Judge Antonio Di Pietro had Mario Chiesa, a member of the centre-left
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892 ...
(PSI), arrested for accepting a
bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...
from a Milan cleaning firm. The PSI distanced themselves from Chiesa, with party leader
Bettino Craxi Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...
calling him ''mariuolo'', or "villain", a "wild splinter" of an otherwise clean party. Upset over this treatment by his former colleagues, Chiesa began to give information about corruption implicating them. This marked the beginning of the ''mani pulite'' investigation; news of political corruption began spreading in the Italian press.


Extension of anti-corruption investigations

In the 1992 general election, the centre-right
Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern Democracy, d ...
(DC) held on to power when its
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
kept a small majority, while leftist opposition parties gained support. However, the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
(PCI) split after the fall of the Soviet Union, depriving the opposition of leadership. Many votes went to the regionalist
Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...
(LN), which was not inclined to form alliances with other parties at the time. The resulting parliament was therefore weak and difficult to bring to an agreement. During April 1992, many industrial figures and politicians from both the government and the opposition were arrested on charges of corruption. While the investigations started in Milan, they quickly spread to other areas as more politicians confessed. Fundamental to this increased exposure was the general attitude of the main politicians to drop support for subordinates who got caught; this made many of them feel betrayed, and they often implicated many other figures, who in turn would implicate even more. On 2 September 1992, PSI politician Sergio Moroni, charged with corruption, committed suicide, leaving behind a letter declaring that his crimes were not for his personal gain but for the party's benefit.


Effect on national politics

In local elections in December 1992, held in eight
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, DC lost half of their votes. The following day, Craxi was officially accused of corruption; he eventually resigned as leader of the PSI. On 5 March 1993, the government of
Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...
(PSI) and his justice minister
Giovanni Conso Giovanni Battista Conso (23 March 1922 – 2 August 2015) was an Italian jurist who served on the Constitutional Court of Italy for nine years beginning in 1982, and has served as President of the Accademia dei Lincei from 1989 until his death ...
(independent) tried to find a solution with a decree, which allowed criminal charges for several bribery-related crimes to be replaced by administrative charges instead; according to popular opinion at the time, that would have resulted in a ''de facto''
amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...
for most corruption charges. Amid public outrage and nationwide rallies,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...
(DC) refused to sign the decree, deeming it unconstitutional. The following week, a US$250 million scandal involving
Eni Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...
, the government-controlled energy company, was revealed. The stream of accusations, confessions and jailing continued. On 25 March, the parliament changed municipal electoral law in favor of a majoritarian system. Later, on 18 April, the public overwhelmingly backed the abrogation of the existing proportional representation parliamentary system in a referendum (a mixed system was introduced that August), causing Amato to resign three days later. Still shocked by the recent events, the parliament was unable to produce a new government.
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born ...
(independent), former governor of the
Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', informally referred to as ''Bankitalia''), (), is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, via Nazionale, Rome. The bank's cur ...
, was appointed head of the government; he appointed a technical government without political influences. Meanwhile, the parliament blocked the investigation into Craxi, causing several cabinet ministers including Francesco Rutelli ( FdV) and
Vincenzo Visco Vincenzo Alfonso Visco (; born 18 March 1942, in Foggia) is an Italian politician and economist who has served as a government minister. He gained an MSc in Economics at the University of York in 1969 and was awarded an honorary degree in 2004. ...
(independent) to resign in protest after three days at their posts. In new local elections on 6 June, DC lost half of its votes once again; the PSI virtually disappeared. Instead, LN became the strongest political force in northern Italy. The left-wing opposition was approaching majority, but still lacked unity and leadership. Eventually, all four parties in the 1992 government disappeared, at different times in different ways: DC, the PSI, the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, and the
Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor part ...
. The Democratic Party of the Left, the
Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...
and the Italian Social Movement were the only surviving national parties; the Republican Party is the only one that has maintained its name since.


Cusani trial

On 20 July 1993, the former Eni president, Gabriele Cagliari, committed suicide in jail. His wife later gave back US$3 million of illegal funds. Meanwhile, Sergio Cusani faced trial and was accused of crimes connected to Enimont, a joint venture between Eni and another energy company, Montedison. The trial was broadcast on national television and was a sort of showcase of the old politics being brought to their responsibilities. While Cusani himself was not a major figure, the connection of his crimes to the Enimont affair called in all the nation's major politicians as witnesses. A high note was reached in the Cusani trial when former head of government
Arnaldo Forlani Arnaldo Forlani, (; born 8 December 1925) is an Italian former politician and statesman who served as the 43rd prime minister of Italy from 18 October 1980 to 28 June 1981. He also held the office of deputy prime minister, minister of Foreign A ...
(DC), answering a question, simply said, "I don't remember"; he happened to be very nervous and did not notice that perspiration was accumulating on his lips, and that image was by many considered symbolic of the people's disgust for the corrupt system. Craxi, instead, admitted that his party received $93 million of illegal funds, defending his actions by saying that "everyone was doing this." Even the Lega Nord was implicated in the trial; secretary Umberto Bossi and former treasurer Alessandro Patelli were convicted for receiving 200 million lire of illegal funding (approx. $100,000 at the time). A bribe to the Italian Communist Party was alleged, but it was not established who had committed the offence. A number of Milanese members of the Democratic Party of the Left were charged with corruption during their time as members of the PCI, but they were
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
. As prosecutor
Antonio Di Pietro Antonio Di Pietro (; born 2 October 1950) is an Italian politician, lawyer and magistrate. He was a minister in government of Romano Prodi, a Senator, and a Member of the European Parliament. He was a prosecutor in the ''Mani Pulite'' corruption ...
stated, "Penal responsibility is personal. I cannot bring here a person with the first name Party and last name Communist" ("La responsabilità penale è personale, non posso portare in giudizio una persona che si chiami Partito di nome e Comunista di cognome."). The Enimont trial itself was carried out after the Cusani trial, with much less public interest.


Investigations on other fronts

In the meantime, the investigation expanded outside the political range: on 2 September 1993, the Milan judge Diego Curtò was arrested. On 21 April 1994, 80 financial regulators and 300 industry personalities were charged with corruption. A few days later, the secretary of Fiat admitted corruption with a letter to a newspaper. Media tycoon
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
entered politics later that year and won the 1994 general election, in what many thought was a move to shield his many business concerns from possible scrutiny. This suspicion was reinforced on 11 February, when Berlusconi's brother, Paolo, admitted to corruption crimes. On 13 July 1994, the Berlusconi government made a new law to avoid jail time for most corruption crimes, the passage of which was timed to coincide with Italy's defeat of
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
in the 1994 Football World Cup's semifinals in the hopes that the public would be distracted. However, as Roberto Baggio shot high the last penalty against Brazil, and newscasts showed images of corrupt politicians leaving jail, public opinion became enraged; the images of
Francesco De Lorenzo Francesco De Lorenzo (born June 5, 1938 in Naples) is a physician and politician, member of the Italian Liberal Party. He was born in Naples. He was minister of health (1989–1993) in the Government of Italy. He served in the cabinet of Prime M ...
, former
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
, were especially striking, since the general public perceived stealing money from hospitals an especially heinous act. Just a few days before, the arrested regulators had been talking about corruption in Fininvest, the holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family. Most of the judge pool declared that they would respect the state's laws, but they could not work in a situation where duty and conscience were to conflict: they requested therefore to be reassigned to other duties. Since the government could not afford to be seen as an adversary of the popular judge pool, the decree was hastily revoked and marked a "misunderstanding"; Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, of Lega Nord, claimed that he had not even had the chance to read it. While the
Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...
was
Alfredo Biondi Alfredo Biondi (29 June 1928 – 24 June 2020) was an Italian politician and lawyer. In 1994 he served as Minister of Justice of the Italian Republic during the first cabinet chaired by Silvio Berlusconi. Biography Born in Pisa, Biondi was Secre ...
, allegations that the decree was written by
Cesare Previti Cesare Previti (born 21 October 1934 in Reggio Calabria) is a former Italian politician, disbarred lawyer and convicted criminal. He was, with Marcello Dell'Utri, a close friend and right-hand of Silvio Berlusconi and founder of Forza Italia (F ...
, a lawyer from Fininvest, are at least credible. On 29 July Berlusconi's brother was again arrested and immediately released.


Escalating conflict between Berlusconi and Di Pietro

At this point a public conflict erupted between Berlusconi and Di Pietro. While Berlusconi's companies were being investigated, "inspectors" were sent from the government to the Milanese judges' office to look for formal irregularities. None were ever found, but this tactic, coupled with Berlusconi's firm grip on the media, helped spread what is described in other environments as
fear, uncertainty and doubt Fear, uncertainty and doubt (often shortened to FUD) is a propaganda tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or f ...
. The battle ended without winners: Di Pietro resigned on 6 December, two weeks before the Berlusconi government resigned ahead of a critical
confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in parliament that was expected to go against them. During 1995, many investigations were started against Di Pietro, who would years later be cleared of all charges. Meanwhile, Berlusconi incurred other charges of corruption. It was later found that the man prosecuting Di Pietro, Fabio Salamone from
Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label=Eastern Lombard, Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes ...
, was the brother of a man that Di Pietro himself had prosecuted and sent to jail for various corruption charges. However, it wasn't until later that authorities realized the conflict of interest and reassigned Salamone, even though his investigations had taken a completely different direction: Paolo Berlusconi and Previti were accused of a conspiracy against Di Pietro, but the prosecutor who later replaced Salamone asked for their acquittal and so did the court. After being cleared, Di Pietro went into politics, despite previously not wishing to exploit the popularity gained doing what he perceived to be just his duty. His movement is named Italia dei Valori ("Italy of values"). In 1998, Cesare Previti, then sitting in parliament after the Berlusconi government, avoided jail thanks to parliamentary intervention, even though Berlusconi and his allies were in opposition. Craxi was sentenced to several years cumulative jail time in definitive convictions and fled to Tunisia, where he remained until his death on 19 January 2000.


Statutory term strategy

After 1994, trials became likely to be cancelled due to the expiration of statutory terms. The government ignored the pleas of the judiciary system for more funding to buy equipment, and passed laws that made Italy's notoriously slow legal system even slower and subject to earlier prescription. The intricate nature of these laws allowed lawyers to use many delaying tactics: an instructive example was a prosecution of Berlusconi, where he was accused of misappropriation of Fininvest's funds in order to prepare
black fund A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...
s that could have been used for bribes or other illegitimate purposes; on the last possible day, a lawyer from Fininvest appeared in court and complained that his company had not been formally notified of the trial. While this trial was well publicized in the media, the formality forced the trial to be restarted from scratch, and Berlusconi was finally acquitted by expiration of statutory terms. Being acquitted in this first trial, he could later benefit from a general reduction of terms for other trials, which in turn expired earlier with a domino effect. After Berlusconi's victory in the 2001 election, public opinion had turned so far against judges, where it is not only openly acceptable to criticize them for having carried out ''Mani pulite'', but also increasingly difficult to broadcast opinions favorable to Milan's pool. Some blame Berlusconi's media influence as having played a role in this change, or the inability of the opposition to gain the consent of conservative electors. Even Umberto Bossi, whose Lega Nord has been an opposition party, became highly critical of judges.


''Lottizzazione''

The term ''lottizzazione'', meaning the way a terrain is divided up in minor parts or ''lotti'', came to indicate the procedure of awarding top positions in important state conglomerates such as
IRI IRI or I.R.I. refers to: Businesses and organizations * Iringa Airport, an airport in Tanzania serving Iringa and the surrounding Iringa Region by IATA airport code * India Rejuvenation Initiative, an Indian anti-corruption organization form ...
,
ENEL Enel S.p.A. is an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established as a public body at the ...
or
ENI Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...
to political figures, or at least managers with a clear political orientation. This usually trickled down to lower levels, creating power centres depending on political parties that controlled a significant part of the production system. The available seats were usually awarded so that government parties (and opposition parties like the
Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...
) would get a share of power corresponding to their perceived influence in the government.


Impact

A 2020 study found that "local politicians withdraw support from incumbents in parties hit by Clean Hands – inducing early government dissolutions in such municipalities... local politicians from the implicated parties exhibit lower re-running rates and higher rates of party switching in the short term. In the medium term, we find that corruption and voter turnout are lower in competitive municipalities ‘treated’ with a mayor from the implicated parties during Clean Hands. Moreover, medium-term upward career mobility of local politicians from the implicated parties benefited from party switching."


In modern culture

In 2005, artist Gianni Motti created an artwork in the form of a bar of soap, named ''Mani Pulite'', based on the scandal. This piece was claimed to have been created out of the fat from a
liposuction Liposuction, or simply lipo, is a type of fat-removal procedure used in plastic surgery. Evidence does not support an effect on weight beyond a couple of months and does not appear to affect obesity-related problems. In the United States, lipo ...
of
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
. It was sold at the 36th edition of
Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
for 15,000 euros. A 2015 television series titled ''
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
'' is based on the events of ''mani pulite''.


See also

*
Bancopoli "Bancopoli" was the name coined by the Italian press for the finance and banking scandals between July 2005 and January 2006. The Italian Banca Popolare Italiana (BPI), in competition with Holland's ABN AMRO for control of Banca Antonveneta, wa ...
(Italian scandal in 2005) *
Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...
*
Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football ...
* -gate suffix *
History of Italy as a Republic The history of the Italian Republic concerns the events relating to the history of Italy that have occurred since 1946, when Italy became a republic. The Italian republican history is generally divided into two phases, the so-called First and Se ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Tangentopoli e il crollo dei partiti

Mani Pulite

'Berlusconi's fat' moulded to art


- ''New York Times'' {{Italian Socialist Party History of the Italian Republic Political history of Italy Modern history of Italy Law enforcement in Italy Political corruption