Italian papers debate shock verdict

Andreotti was acquitted of murder in 1999

Italy's newspapers are dominated by the shock appeals court verdict against former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.

Stunned reaction from across the political spectrum mingles with condemnation of the sentence from many quarters.

Editorials and columns comment extensively on the possible fallout for Italian politics, and the Italian judiciary in particular.

There is a devastating impression of a justice system that goes in fits and starts

La Stampa

An editorial in the left-of-centre La Repubblica warns critics on both the left and the right that an irresponsible campaign to defame Italy's judges could end up by destroying the independence of the judiciary.

Most commentators agree the verdict has reopened the vexed issue of the reliability of former Mafia members turned state witnesses. Mr Andreotti was originally implicated in the 1979 killing of journalist Mino Pecorelli by leading Mafia informers.

'Turncoats' revenge'

"There is a devastating impression of a justice system that goes in fits and starts, that one moment gives the lie to the evidence of Mafia turncoats, and the next moment gives them credence," says an editorial in leading centrist daily La Stampa.

Corriere della Sera sees the verdict as the "posthumous revenge" of top Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta, who made the original allegations against Mr Andreotti in 1993 and who has since died.

Have millions of Italians been wrong all this time? Perhaps, but we must have proof

Il Messaggero

"Yesterday's sentence represents a kind of posthumous rehabilitation of Cosa Nostra's premier turncoat," the paper says.

L'Unita newspaper agrees.

"One thing is clear. The Perugia Appeals Court... has lent the [Mafia turncoats] credibility," it says.

Unanswered questions

For daily Il Messaggero the verdict of the court is "incomprehensible", given the many unanswered questions that still surround the case, and the lack of hard evidence against the former premier.

It points out that in 1999, a Palermo court cleared Mr Andreotti on separate charges of aiding the Mafia.

"Andreotti has been a protagonist in the life of Italy for 50 years.. The sentence says he was the prime mover behind a homicide. Have millions of Italians been wrong all this time? Perhaps, but we must have proof," the paper says.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.