The story of Francesco De Lorenzo, former health minister overwhelmed by Tangentopoli: preventive imprisonment, questionable accusations and a controversial sentence.
I met Francesco De Lorenzo When he had already fallen out of disgrace, transformed by the powerful of the First Republic in Reietto of the second. Until 1993 it had been Minister of Health of the Andreotti Governmentrevered and acclaimed, but in the months of the following year he was dragged into handcuffs before the public health court of the judicial “revolution”, insulted and damned. The images of the news that showed him awaiting judgment, by detached and sick after weeks of detention, prompted me to publish an article to ask for that of that preventive imprisonment. Certainly the dangers of escape, nor of reiteration of the crime or pollution of the tests did not resort: therefore, I asked myself, why keep it behind the bars. I also addressed similar questions in other cases, not only for De Lorenzo, and even now as thirty years ago I think that the arrests before the final sentencein a civil and democratic country, they must be an exception, to be ordered only in the face of a killer who risks killing someone if left in freedom.
But the handcuffs before the judgment were not the only anomaly of the De Lorenzo case. The prosecutor accused him of having Take money from the pharmaceutical industriesto encourage the provision of the public service of some medicine. As we learned from the recent case Almasri, the magistrates who have just received the crime news should have abstained and transmit the documents to the Court of Ministers.
Instead, they looked at each other well from passing the ball to colleagues: putting a big piece of politics on the defendants’ bench, then as he now gave notoriety. If it is added that in that season the prosecutors of investigations on the powerful in the eyes of public opinion appeared heroesit is clear why nobody overshadowed.
The prosecutor convened witnesses and arrested the alleged guilty, then, when the competence of the Court of Ministers on the order of the Cassation, the investigation – was finally restored – instead of starting again from the head – he pulled. With a measure that only in Italy can be seen, the judges decided that the interrogation reports were valid and therefore, although collected in illegitimate methods, the testimonies were taken for good. Even those obtained with handcuffs of handcuffsto use a term coined by the then President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who, after being saved by the prosecutors of Rome for the case of the black funds of the Sisde, was careful well, however, from returning to the easy arrest.
In the end, all the people involved, sitting on the uncomfortable armchair of the Reo was the only people involved on the defendant’s bench. For all the other suspects, the judgment was referred to a new trial to be held separately, as none of them held ministerial positions, even if according to the accusations they had played a fundamental role in Management and in the collection of the bribes. Result: De Lorenzo was sentenced to five years in prison for illicit financing for parties and corruption. Its co -defendants were largely acquitted, or by prescription or otherwise. The former minister therefore became the perfect scapegoat perfect to which all responsibility is leaning.
The Cassation established that It was not enrichedThat is, not having received money for himself, because the funds had ended up in the coffers of the liberal party, of which De Lorenzo was part. In the judgment, examples of acts contrary to office duties were not brought, or which drugs had illegally facilitated, but the money received from the PLI through some of his collaborators were enough to condemn him. And even if the health expenditure in those years decreasedDe Lorenzo was taken to prison. After serving the sentence, he kept away from politics, dedicating himself to volunteering in favor of the cancer patientshowever, the curse of its ruinous fall has accompanied him since then, with unparalleled resentment. The last example concerns the annuity as a former parliamentarianwho had first been removed and then recently returned, with the vote of the grillini.
It will be because I don’t like it the fury on the losersit will be because they are inclined to forgive after many years the errors (even if he did not take advantage of it personally, not having denounced the mechanism of the bribes was certainly a mistake), the fact is that all this indignation towards De Lorenzo – who as well It was a good minister of health – It seems excessive to me.
There are politicians, but also entrepreneurs, who, despite having participated in the system, have been graceful and enjoyed one collective removal. The name of Carlo De Benedetti? Thirty years later, nobody remembers the history of telex sold at the post office and not even the payment of a ten billion lire bunch and the half -day detention. But De Lorenzo did not have the number one card of the Democratic Partyonly that of PLI.
