What do you ask a summit of the institutions of a state? Preparation, skills, incorruptibility, dedication to their role.
What do you do in Italy when you have a manager with these qualities? He gets bum-fucked.
This is what happened last year to Admiral De Giorgi, the then Navy Chief of Staff.
Who was De Giorgi? A "cagnaccio", a leader who did not pass over inefficiencies and did not turn a blind eye to possible shortcomings: personal, organizational and industrial. Love and hate were the widespread feelings among his subordinates. The possibility of seeing it arrive without warning on board a ship or in a base all united with equal fear.
On the other hand, hate was the sentiment of those who, accustomed to "buying" people, found themselves in front of a Military (with a capital letter).
Well, the judicial inquiry, with which - to the sound of anonymous dossiers and headlines in the newspapers - has been publicly disgraced the admiral, was closed a few weeks ago with the filing ordered by the same judge for preliminary investigations.
Positive news? Partially. In the collective unconscious "De Giorgi" remains linked to the effects of a defamatory campaign that for months has been fired at high levels. In addition, the aftermath of tragicomic television broadcasts have certainly not helped the image of a military whose merits will surely be recognized only after some time (see naval law).
Archiving has informed in a few and with briefs, certainly not the first pages of last year. However, even if equal emphasis was given to the news, the result would not have changed, except for moral compensation: it was avoided that an incorruptible could take on other top positions. And last year - just a few hours from the "investigated De Giorgi" - important appointments were in progress ranging from Civil Protection to Secret Services ...
We met with the admiral to understand with which state of mind he accepted the end of a long and indecent judicial affair for a nation that is millant "Homeland of Law".
Admiral, the "Tempa Rossa" case has been archived. He is satisfied?
Satisfied is probably not the first term that comes to mind.
How did the news of involvement in the investigation live?
With bewilderment and disbelief. With the pain and frustration of those who know they have always done their duty, protecting the interests of the state and the good of the Navy; with the feeling of suffering injustice. It also made me suffer the possibility that the Navy staff who believed in me could be disappointed, confused by the defamatory campaign put in place immediately, with a strength and breadth rarely seen before.
The then president Renzi defended it by publicly declaring esteem for him. They were all so brave?
It was a strong signal that required courage, especially given the media attack in progress at the time. I am also very grateful to the President Mattarella who supported me on a personal level. Others who, by appointment and direct knowledge of the undersigned, should have supported me publicly, even to protect the image of the Navy, they preferred to withdraw, turn away, when not try to take advantage of the moment of my difficulty.
The support of my family that has undergone with me the cynical, unjust destruction of my prestige and my reputation, after 45 years of unconditional service to the Country, was fundamental. Fortunately I felt close to the great part of the Navy personnel, starting from the lowest grades, which gave me great affection, giving me the strength to continue, not to leave the ship in distress.
Formally it was a judicial case. Substantially it seemed (immediately, for the less "naive") media action. I remember titles in the newspapers of a weekend with "involved also De Giorgi", without any reference to her in the text of the articles. On Monday his name was vying for important positions ... Has anyone brought the result anyway?
I do not want to comment on the judicial aspects of the story, out of respect for the institutions. The Justice has nevertheless run its course and the Magistracy has established in a clear way that I have not committed crimes, nor any wrongdoing whatsoever.
If on the one hand I can only appreciate that the conclusion of the painful affair that struck me ended in the only way possible, that is with the filing of the accusations, on the other I can not forget the media aggression that immediately is unleashed against me, spreading imaginative hypotheses, absolutely without foundation and objective evidence.
Certainly the timing of the story was singular, on the eve of the referendum on Drills and as far as I was concerned, the expiry of my mandate. It is clear that someone was hoping to force me to resign, also through the simultaneous, massive dissemination of an anonymous dossier, which took place thanks to the unusual availability of many press and television broadcasters to its wide dissemination, overcoming any ethical hesitation.
Also for this reason, resigning would have been an act of cowardice. I could not give it to the "crow" that hoped, through my eventual resignation, to condition the choice of my successor. I could not accept that anonymous dossiers decide the fate of the Navy.
It is obvious that those who feared a renewal of my mandate, however, granted a short time later to the head of the Defense gen. Graziano, to the Chief of the Army gen. Errico, to the general commander of the Carabinieri gen. Del Sette, in view of the expiry of their office, or the assignment of other institutional positions, has undoubtedly welcomed the achievement of this objective.
However, it is striking the silence of the media on archiving investigations; the same ones who at the time spent rivers of ink and large television spaces against me, demolishing my reputation and honorability, now remain silent indifferent to the duty of correctly informing the public about my total extraneousness with respect to any accusation.
Freedom of the press is too important a good for a democracy, to accept such cynically unconventional behavior, by those who should have all the interest to protect it.
