L'Espresso published the day before yesterday several photographs from photographer Alberto Rivero's archive. He was digitalising the old photographs from 1977 when he discovered some taken in the beginnings of Berlusconi's career. Some of them are now more interesting than ever [view the complete gallery].
For instance, here we can see Berlusconi with Marcello Dell'Utri, in the house of Edilnord, company that had created Milano Due.
In 1974, Marcello Dell'Utri began working for Silvio Berlusconi, in his society Edilnord. He was later Director of Publitalia '80 [*], and later he became involved in Forza Italia:
Nel 1994 , a seguito della fondazione da parte di Silvio Berlusconi del movimento politico Forza Italia (oggi Il Popolo della Libertà ), un gruppo di manager dell'azienda, primo fra tutti l'allora presidente Marcello Dell'Utri, poiché co-fondatore del movimento, entrarono a far parte del nuovo partito ricoprendo poi differenti cariche politiche e istituzionali;
His links with the Mafia have been widely documented, despite Berlusconi's efforts to avoid it.
Il 7 luglio porta nella villa di Arcore Vittorio Mangano che, secondo il Tribunale di Palermo [3] , viene assunto da Berlusconi come "responsabile" per evitare che i familiari dell'imprenditore fossero vittima di sequestro di persona (e non come "stalliere", come affermato). Mangano è un giovane mafioso , divenuto successivamente esponente di spicco del clan di Porta Nuova a Palermo, e in quel periodo ha già a suo carico 3 arresti e varie denunce e condanne, nonché una diffida risalente al 1967 come "persona pericolosa". Dopo l'arresto di Mangano sia Berlusconi che Dell'Utri hanno dichiarato ai carabinieri di non essere stati a conoscenza delle sue attività criminali, ma il Tribunale di Palermo ha affermato che Dell'Utri conosceva lo "spessore delinquenziale" di Mangano, e anzi, lo avrebbe scelto proprio per tale "qualità". [3]
Il 24 ottobre 1976 Dell'Utri si trova insieme a Vittorio Mangano e ad altri mafiosi alla festa di compleanno del boss catanese Antonino Calderone , al ristorante "Le Colline Pistoiesi" di Milano.
Il 19 aprile dello stesso anno è a Londra, dove partecipa al matrimonio di Girolamo Maria Fauci , più comunemente chiamato Jimmy Fauci , boss mafioso che gestisce il traffico di droga fra Italia, Gran Bretagna e Canada. Nel 1982 inizia come dirigente la sua attività in Publitalia '80 , la società per la raccolta pubblicitaria della Fininvest , una società fondata nel 1979 da Silvio Berlusconi , di cui diventa Presidente e Amministratore Delegato. Un anno dopo ( 1983 ), nell'ambito di un blitz di arresti compiuti a Milano contro la mafia dei casinò, viene trovato nella residenza del boss mafioso catanese Gaetano Corallo . Nel 1984 viene promosso ad amministratore delegato del gruppo Fininvest.
Nel 1992 (gennaio-febbraio) Vincenzo Garraffa , ex senatore del Partito Repubblicano Italiano e presidente della Pallacanestro Trapani, riceve la visita del boss trapanese Vincenzo Virga (poi latitante e condannato per omicidio oggi in carcere): «Mi manda Dell'Utri», dice il boss venuto a riscuotere un presunto credito in nero preteso da Dell'Utri. L'episodio, denunciato da Garraffa, è stato accertato dal tribunale di Milano, che nel maggio 2004 ha condannato Dell'Utri e Virga a 2 anni per tentata estorsione in primo grado, e confermando la condanna in appello nel 2007 .
Nel 1993 fonda Forza Italia insieme a Silvio Berlusconi , lasciando la carica di presidente di Publitalia '80. Nel 1996 è deputato al Parlamento nazionale, dal 1999 è parlamentare europeo e nelle elezioni politiche del 2001 viene eletto (nel collegio 1 di Milano) Senatore della Repubblica.
In 1973, Dell'Utri introduced Vittorio Mangano , already charged for Mafia crimes, to Silvio Berlusconi , as a gardener and stable man at the Villa San Martino owned by Berlusconi in Arcore, a small town near Milan. Mangano's real job is alleged to have been to deter kidnappers from targeting the tycoon's children. [An Italian Story, The Economist, April 26, 2001] [Berlusconi accused of Mafia links, BBC news, 8 January 2003] Berlusconi denies any ties to the Mafia.
In 1996, the Mafia pentito (turncoat) Salvatore Cancemi declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Mafia boss Totò Riina . The alleged contacts, according to Cancemi, were to lead to legislation favourable to Cosa Nostra, in particular the harsh 41-bis prison regime . The underlying premise was that Cosa Nostra would support Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in return for political favours. [Berlusconi friend on trial for 'aiding Mafia', The Guardian, May 10, 2001] After a two-year investigation, magistrates closed the inquiry without charges. They did not find evidence to corroborate Cancemi's allegations. Similarly, a two-year investigation, also launched on evidence from Cancemi, into Berlusconi's alleged association with the Mafia was closed in 1996. [An Italian Story, The Economist, April 26, 2001] [Accusa e difesa del senatore "M"; Una vicenda lunga dieci anni, La Repubblica, December 11, 2004] Cancemi disclosed that Fininvest , through Marcello Dell'Utri and mafioso Vittorio Mangano , had paid Cosa Nostra 200 million lire (100.000 euro) annually. [Berlusconi friend on trial for 'aiding Mafia', The Guardian, May 10, 2001]
According to yet another mafia turncoat, Antonino Giuffrè – arrested on April 16 , 2002 – the Mafia turned to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to look after the Mafia's interests, after the decline in the early 1990s of the ruling Christian Democrat party (DC - Democrazia Cristiana ) — whose leaders in Sicily looked after the Mafia's interests in Rome. The Mafia's fall out with the Christian Democrats became clear when the DC strong man in Sicily, Salvo Lima , was killed in March, 1992. "The Lima murder marked the end of an era," Giuffrè told the court. "A new era opened with a new political force on the horizon which provided the guarantees that the Christian Democrats were no longer able to deliver. To be clear, that party was Forza Italia." [Berlusconi aide 'struck deal with mafia', The Guardian, January 8, 2003] If true, the allegations might explain the Berlusconi coalition's clean sweep of Sicily's 61 Parliament seats in the 2001 elections. [Who Are You Going To Believe?, Time Magazine, January 12, 2003]
Dell'Utri was the go-between on a range of legislative efforts to ease pressure on mafiosi in exchange for electoral support, according to Giuffrè. "Dell'Utri was very close to Cosa Nostra and a very good contact point for Berlusconi," he said. [Mafia supergrass fingers Berlusconi by Philip Willan, The Observer, January 12, 2003] Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano told Giuffrè that they "were in good hands" with Dell'Utri, who was a "serious and trustworthy person". [Who Are You Going To Believe?, Time Magazine, January 12, 2003] Dell'Utri's lawyer, Enrico Trantino, dismissed Giuffrè's allegations as an "anthology of hearsay". He said Giuffrè had perpetuated the trend that every new turncoat would attack Dell'Utri and the former Christian Democrat prime minister Giulio Andreotti in order to earn money and judicial privileges. [Berlusconi implicated in deal with godfathers, The Guardian, December 5, 2002]
"The pentito Salvatore Cancemi disclosed that Berlusconi's company Fininvest, through Marcello Dell'Utri and Mangano, had paid Cosa Nostra 200 million lire (100 000 euro) annually. The alleged contacts, according to Cancemi, were to lead to legislation favourable to Cosa Nostra, in particular the harsh article 41-bis prison regime. The underlying premise was that Cosa Nostra would support Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in return for political favours."
Giuffrè's testimony was blunt. He said that after the decline in the early 1990s of the ruling Christian Democrats — who had leaders in Sicily who looked out for the Mafia's interests in Rome — top bosses turned to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to do the Mafia's bidding. The Sicilian-born Dell'Utri, the witness said, was the go-to man on a range of legislative efforts to ease pressure on mobsters in exchange for electoral support. Giuffrè said that current top Mob boss Bernardo Provenzano told him that they "were in good hands" with Dell'Utri, who was a "serious and trustworthy person" and was close to Berlusconi. If true, the allegations might explain the Berlusconi coalition's clean sweep of Sicily's 61 Parliament seats in the 2001 elections.
In 1995 he is arrested, and in 1996 he becomes deputato for Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi's party. In 1999 he is convicted by the Corte di Cassazione to 2 years and 3 months, for taux fraud and false accounting. Despite that he is elected as Member of the European Congress, again for Forza Italia. In 2004 he is sentenced to 9 years (pending appeal) for concorso di associazione mafiosa (conspiracy with the Mafia). In 2007 he was sentenced to two years for attempted extorsion, when he was in Publitalia, a Finninvest concessionaire (Silvio Berlusconi's company).
November 11, 2007, Silvio Berlusconi defends Marcello Dell'Utri, already condemned for association with Mafia.
