Stefano Rodotà on lies in the Berlusconi scandal and the right to truth

Commenting on the stubborn silence of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi regarding the precise nature of his relationship with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia legal expert Stefano Rodotà writes in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "Who has the right to truth? This question, which drove a wedge between Immanuel Kant and Benjamin Constant, is at the centre of the debate in Italy today. Constant countered Kant's resolute universalism with the argument 'that no man has a right to a truth that injures others'. In our case the truth hurts no one except the prime minister, while silence or lies encroach on the very right to knowledge that is an integral part of democracy and which tempts people to make Machiavellian use of the lie as an instrument for maintaining their hold on political power. As has often been stressed, the processes of concealing the truth are a constant companion of totalitarian regimes, while starting with Athenian democracy access to the truth was always the privilege of the free masses. … Democracy means not just governing the people, but also governing in the public eye. Here, in this simple and profound truth, lies the inadmissibility of the lie in politics."

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