Antonio Di Pietro

"Rather than corruption or extortion, we should talk about “environmental bribery”, i.e. an objective situation in which those who have to give money no longer even wait to be asked; they know that in that particular environment it is customary to give bribes or protection money, and so they comply."

"(About the death of Giovanni Falcone) It was a tragedy, and the brawls show that the institutions have lost a battle. Falcone was killed for what he did in his life as a magistrate."

"When the law, due to obvious disparities in treatment, conflicts with feelings of justice and fairness, it becomes very difficult to do one's duty without feeling like an instrument of injustice. We have therefore informed the public prosecutor of our determination to request, as soon as possible, assignment to another and different position, in the performance of which there will be no jarring conflict between what our conscience dictates and what the law imposes. Signed Antonio Di Pietro, Piercamillo Davigo, Francesco Greco, Gherardo Colombo."

"I am not a politician and I do not intend to enter politics. But can you rule out the possibility of dressing up as a woman tomorrow? Anything is possible! (17 December 1995)"

"The South [of ITaly] needs action, not clowning around."

"I have nothing in common with Silvio Berlusconi: I only had to see him a couple of times in my life to realise that he is someone to be avoided. Politically, I consider him to be like AIDS: if you know him, you avoid him."

"I was a judge and I applied the law. As a bricklayer, I tried to build my walls straight, as a policeman I tried to arrest criminals and as a judge I tried to bring people to trial when there was good reason to do so."

"Are thieves, corrupt individuals, tax evaders, mafia members or those who – like me – uncovered them with the Mani Pulite investigation a disgrace to the country?"

"(Addressing Giulio Tremonti If necessary, I would question you too, for that matter."

"There is still a creeping cross-party consensus on issues of justice. I experienced this first-hand when I was asked: “What would you like to do?” 'I would like to be Minister of Justice.“ 'No, no, it might actually work.” That's when I realised that Clemente was better."

"(Addressing Fabrizio Corona) Listen, Corona, if you're innocent, I'm a woman!"

"Today, like it or not, Hamas is a force whose goal is to destroy the State of Israel. Through terrorism. You can't talk to people who haven't renounced terrorism and still don't recognise Israel. I'll say more. ... In order to talk to us, they should disband. A terrorist is a terrorist."

"I'll cut off my hand if Prodi falls for me... right here in front of you."

"Today, like it or not, Hamas is a force that has as its goal the overthrow of the State of Israel. With terrorism. Do not you talk to who has not abandoned terrorism and still does not recognize Israel. I would say more … What to talk should melt. The terrorist is a terrorist."

"Berlusconi's politics as [...] Fede is information."

"So, when Craxi said, ‘We are all guilty,’ a deep silence fell. Everyone remained silent. Now, when Mastella accuses the judges, everyone applauds wildly."

"The wiretaps they want to limit show us a head of government who acts more like a pimp, busy placing showgirls who talked too much."

"When there is a democratic emergency, you stay on the front line. You don't run away!"

"Anti-Berlusconism is a false problem. We are anti-Berlusconism because he is the anomaly. They accuse us of only caring about justice, but it is he who cares too much about justice; it is he who created the Alfano ruling, the Consolo ruling, the Salvapremier ruling. [...] We are only trying to contain the damage."

"Berlusconi [...] is to politics what Fede is to information."

"Berlusconi cannot do much, apart from slandering and lying, against those who act according to the rules. He does not sue me because when I say something against him, I always have proof. I hope he sues me for defamation. But he won't."

"Since fifteen years a group of people has been using public functions to solve their own problems of justice; Go and reread the proposals of P2, go and reread all those proposals, they are exactly those of a justice system subservient to power, they are exactly those of an anti-democratic state where a caste rules over a people who are no longer citizens but subjects."

"I believe that Italian citizens have the right to demonstrate in a civilised public square. One may disagree with what we have done and are doing, but is it not our right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to say that we are not convinced by the actions of certain people? And can we afford, Mr President of the Republic, to welcome into this square some of us who disagree with some of your silences? Can we or can we not? Or are we subversives? We are ordinary citizens who allow ourselves to say to you, Mr President of the Republic, that you should be the referee, but that sometimes your judgement seems to us to be neither that of a referee nor that of a third party. Can we say that or not? We respect you, we have a sense of the institutions, we want to be at peace. [...] Respectfully, respectfully, but respect is one thing, silence is another: silence kills, silence is mafia-like, silence is mafia behaviour. That is why we do not want to remain silent."

"Da Berlusconi un tipico discorso da vero e proprio ducetto: vuole azzerare la Costituzione e diventare il padre padrone della sua nuova azienda 'Italia'. Propone la riforma dei regolamenti parlamentari al solo fine di eliminare definitivamente quel che lui considera un inutile ingombro, ossia l'opposizione; pretende che vengano dati maggiori poteri al premier, cioè a lui, così avrà mano libera su quello che lui percepisce come una zavorra: la democrazia. Dopo il controllo dell'informazione, l'attacco all'indipendenza della magistratura, l'indebolimento del sindacato, ecco il potere assoluto, ultimo tassello per il compimento del piano di rinascita democratica della P2, di cui Berlusconi è un noto affiliato."

"In reality, Berlusconi is not interested in the good of the community, but only in his own impunity."

"(About Bettino Craxi) We believe that what is happening is a violation of history: making people believe that a person must be rehabilitated, without informing citizens that this person has indebted the country politically, has been a fugitive from justice, and has used institutions to steal money and cheat citizens out of their money. Using this person as a reference point for the country's redemption is like using Lucifer to praise God."

"(About the 'President of the Italian Republics message about Bettino Craxi) I prefer not to comment. I do not want to argue with the Head of State. [...] while everyone is competing to remember a fugitive, we at Italia dei Valori prefer to remember the journalist Beppe Alfano, who was killed because he denounced those who committed crimes, rather than committing them himself."

"I consider Travaglio one of the few free voices in the world of information, a serious professional who fully performs the role of watchdog of democracy. Marco's observations and criticisms, of which I myself have often been the subject, should serve as a warning to politicians."

"Of course, you, Mr. Berlusconi, are not a prime minister, but a rapist of democracy, a rapist who, after the rape, made a law, or rather, twenty laws ‘'ad personam’' so as not to answer for his rape. You are not, as they have defined you, one of the many tentacles of the octopus... You are the head of the political octopus that in the last twenty years has appropriated the institutions in an anti-democratic and criminal way, to bend them to your personal interests and those of your accomplices, those of the deviant Masonic sect to which you belong. Today you spoke to us about the government's willingness to implement the fight against corruption, tax evasion, and the economic crimes of the cliques: and what are you going to do, arrest yourself? Or have you decided to slap yourself every morning when you get up and look in the mirror?"

"When they said, “Fascism is over, but what does it mean to be a fascist?” Well, it means being La Russa: tonight he is a fascist. From the television program ‘'Annozero’', December 16, 2010. Video available on ‘'Rai.tv’'."

"(Referring to the episode of Annozero aired on December 16, 2010) Last night, in front of several million television viewers, the Minister of Defense in the government of Berlusconi, Ignazio La Russa, responded to my specific accusation that he was behaving like a Fascist by saying, "Yes. I am a fascist. I am proud to be a fascist." Can a minister of the Republic, the Minister of Defense, defend fascism, having the armed forces at his disposal? I want to appeal to President Giorgio Napolitano. The Minister of Defense of the Italian Republic has defended fascism. What are we waiting for to react? The return of a new fascism?"

"Carelli: “Mr. Di Pietro, have you ever been to Oxford to give a lecture?” Di Pietro: “No, look, I am aware of my limitations.”"

"However, I come from there. From the Catholics, from the moderates. I studied in a seminary. I am not a man of the left."

"I was an emigrant, and I had no time for ideologies, neither communist nor fascist."

"Faced with human suffering and fragility, only a miserable person rejoices and wishes for the worst. A man, if he is a man, expresses solidarity."

"Berlusconi today is essentially a lonely person, trying to buy a happiness he does not have. My feelings for him are of humana pietas. And anger towards the courtiers who take advantage of him, who feed off him, who further humiliate the institutions, hiding behind his face."

"More than Videla, Berlusconi is Do Nascimiento."

"There is the Lega of the leadership, which seems to me to be closed off in the Roman Palace and torn apart internally. But there is the Lega of the mayors, the councilors, the territory, the militants. I know them well: they are people who love their land, and they have my respect. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater."

"I can't stand some of Maroni's racist remarks about immigrants, as I was one of them myself. But I was also a policeman. I appreciate the way Maroni defends his ministry."

"(About Oscar Luigi Scalfaro) He was able to give us that sense of security that allowed us to work calmly even when they tried to stop us [...]. It was essential that he was the one to take on the role of President of the Republic during those years. He carried out his role independently, both as a politician and as a magistrate."

"(About the Monti government at the session to approve the law converting the simplification and development decree) It is good for Italians to know that you will be good fathers in your own homes, but you are bad fathers to Italians, because you do not think of all Italians, you only think of some of them, you only think of the lobbies, the caste, of doing favors for some and destroying the weakest part of the country. Let's be clear, Italia dei Valori knows very well why you were put there. You had to put the accounts in order, but you also had to make those who could pay the bill pay it, and not always the weakest and, above all, the most honest. We dispute the political choices you have made in your work."

"(About the Monti government) We contested another thing about Berlusconi: he made us ashamed on a human level, he thought about ‘'bunga bunga’'. We, on the other hand, contest the policies you are pursuing. Above all, we contest the decision to continue Berlusconi's approach, from the Istituto Luce, from propaganda, in making people believe that everything is fine."

"Even stones know it, so imagine if foreign and Italian investors do not know the reasons why Italy is in recession. The reasons are slow and exasperating bureaucracy, rampant corruption, and entrepreneurs who, instead of doing business, have been forced or reduced to acting as “bribe-takers” and fixers. This is why our country is not working. Our country does not work because there is an exasperating tax system. Our country does not work because the Italian state and public bodies, after requesting orders for work and products from companies, do not pay them. There are companies that are going bankrupt because the state does not pay for the products they have supplied or the work they have done. These are the reasons why our country does not work."

"(During the debate on the approval of the anti-corruption bill) You know that there are many cases in which loans or grants are awarded to people who apply to the public administration for a variety of reasons. Well, we ask you why, when it comes to a person convicted with a final criminal sentence for mafia activities, corruption, aiding and abetting embezzlement, or other very serious crimes, they should be allowed access to contributions from the state and the public administration, funding, charitable donations, and so on. Why can't we establish a principle whereby those who are honest, fair, and respect the law can access benefits, while criminals are denied them? It is a straightforward, formal, and precise request. Don't tell us, once again, that there is a delegation! Why don't we decide here? We are adopting a measure, so why do we have to postpone it to another date? Take on this responsibility too!"

"Craxi described Napolitano, a leading member of the PCI and president of the Chamber of Deputies, as a man who was very attentive to the system of the First Republic, especially in cultivating his relations with Moscow. I believe that in that formal interrogation, which I conducted before the judge, Craxi was revealing true facts because he accused himself and then others of illegal party financing. Now, one of two things: either those facts were not criminally relevant, or I don't see why double standards were used."

"Absolutely opposed [to amnesty], because – first of all – people should not commit crimes. Secondly, if they do commit crimes, they must be placed on a path of punishment and rehabilitation so that when they are released, they are able to find a job and change their lives. Amnesty releases both good and bad people indiscriminately, which is of no benefit to either prisoners or society."

"What is the point of a commission today? There is a final criminal judgment that also establishes the civil and moral responsibility of the State. There is a risk of calling into question the truth of the trial, especially by entrusting it to a biased body representing the current political majority. It seems masochistic to me: it would only serve to give those who have already been convicted by the judiciary the chance to rewrite a different page of that story."

"I have always maintained, and still maintain today, that we did well to let the judiciary do its job, because only justice could ascertain the truth [about the events of the G8 in Genoa]. Today, with the cards on the table and the final measures in place, we have proven evidence of how the events unfolded. If there had been a parliamentary commission, there would have been a majority report and a minority report, and in parliament there would have been those who sided with one side and those who sided with the other, based on partisanship and not on the ascertainment of the facts. Today, the cards are on the table, and everyone must bow their heads and apologize."

"Many people must apologize for the actions of the police. Just as many people must apologize for the actions of the demonstrators. Many things happened in Genoa, but one does not justify the other. It is too easy to say that now only the police must apologize. Each act must be judged on its own merits, but I will never allow anyone to say that because the police did what they did, what happened the day before is justified."

"There should not even be a need for a law to prohibit torture. Already today, there are specific types of crimes with which it is technically possible to punish a person who tortures. Nevertheless, if you want to introduce the crime, I agree...."