Craxi organised corruption

Ten years ago Italy's socialist ex-prime minister Bettino Craxi died in exile in Tunisia. He had fled there to escape charges of corruption. Both Italy's conservative head of government Silvio Berlusconi and the ex-communist head of state Giorgio Napolitano are now trying to restore Craxi's reputation, portraying him as a victim of justice. This prompts the daily La Repubblica to criticise a letter written by Napolitano to Craxi's widow Anna: "The president cites a 'sympathy' that is not just a personal virtue but also a basic element of democracy, in which differing views coexist that are not and cannot always be shared by all and which envelops this 'sympathy' in the gentle light of virtuous tolerance. To tolerate, however, is not the same as to forget. It is irreconcilable with democracy if it alters the past and mystifies and threatens to blur the present and compromise the future. ... Craxi was not just a passive beneficiary of the bribing system but an active organiser."

» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Remembrance culture, » Italy
All available articles from » Eugenio Scalfari

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, January 19, 2010