Andreotti Cleared of Murder

The Italian supreme court has cleared Giulio Andreotti, the leading figure in Italian postwar politics, seven times prime minister, of ordering the Mafia to kill a journalist in 1979.
The Italian supreme court has cleared Giulio Andreotti, the leading figure in Italian postwar politics, seven times prime minister, of ordering the Mafia to kill a journalist in 1979. The court of cassation overturned a lower court verdict convicting the senator for life and sentencing him to 24 years in prison.

It put an end to 11 years of judicial to-ing and fro-ing. Last November a court in Perugia reversed an earlier acquittal with a ruling that was widely criticised by politicians of both the right and left.

Mr Andreotti entered parliament in 1948.

"Since then, I've been served lots of poisoned delicacies," he said last night. "They tried to shorten my life as well as my political career. But now I feel relieved."


© Guardian News & Media 2008
Published: 10/30/2003
 
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