Piercamillo Davigo, president of
Italy's National Magistrates Assocation (ANM) union, stirred an
uproar on Friday over comments he made in an interview with
Italian daily Corriere della Sera in which he said that
politicians steal.
Davigo said that politicians "haven't stopped stealing;
they've stopped being ashamed of it. They're boldly claiming
what they used to do in secret. They say things like 'With our
money we do what we want'. But it's not their money, it's
taxpayer's money," Davigo said.
Former ANM president Luca Palamara said that now "isn't the
time to feed a useless conflict between politics and the
judiciary" and said he "didn't like generalisations" about
corruption.
Antonio Leone, a member of the Superior Council of the
Magistrature, the judiciary's self-governing body, called
Davigo's comments "a misguided attempt to feed a new and violent
clash between institutions".
MP Andrea Romano of the Democratic Party (PD) said Davigo
seemed uninformed on current legislation.
"I find it very coarse the idea that politicians all steal
in the same way: it seems like Davigo isn't well-informed about
the laws that we've made," Romano said.
"Laws that haven't made politicians honest from the first
to the last, but that serve to fight dishonesty," he said.
However, the leader of rightwing Northern League, Matteo
Salvini, said he would be open to meeting with Davigo.
"I know him and respect him, I'd meet him and I'd meet him
gladly because some battles in common I'm interested in doing
them with him and ANM," Salvini said.
"However I'd like it if there were more detailed remarks,
because saying that politicians steal is too generic," he said.
Davigo was undaunted Friday, saying "the leadership class
of this country when it commits crimes reaps a number of victims
incomparably higher than any street criminal and causes more
serious damage".
Davigo said that "in Italy the common saying is that
everyone steals. No, that makes me angry, many people steal. Not
all. Otherwise it would make no sense to have trials".
Davigo added that "saying that magistrates must only speak
through their sentences is equivalent to saying they must keep
quiet."
He asked "have you ever read sentences? It's like when
there's a fisherman who's caught an enormous pike in a local
daily. I say: is the fisherman affected by protagonism or is the
pike enormous?"
He also said those who accused magistrates of abusing
preventive custody were "without shame".
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