GALASSO: If you ask me Giovanni Falcone would be well advised to leave the ministerial halls as soon as possible, because it seems to me that the air there is not good for him.

FALCONE: That’s your subjective opinion, indicating the lack of a sense of state.

GALASSO: On the contrary, to me it seems like what’s lacking is a sense of the independence and autonomy of the judiciary.

FALCONE: The post I hold is intended for judges, it has nothing to do with the independence of the judiciary. In any country in the world there is a Ministry of Justice, in any country in the world there are judges who are in the ministry. You’re confusing independence with irresponsibility and licence.

GALASSO: Independence for me is very specific: not having to answer to anyone, either before, during or after.

FALCONE: That’s the problem: those who are independent always have to answer for it.

GALASSO: Not judges.

FALCONE: How can you say that? There’s an excellent law on civil responsibility, and you say they’re not responsible?

GALASSO: Judges answer to the people in whose name they administer justice. And for that reason there is a sovereign body like the Supreme Judicial Council which, in the name of the people, must ensure this independence. In any case, Giovanni, I don’t like you being inside the halls of government, I don’t like it.

Attorney Galasso is a decent man. He expresses what the left was thinking, and sometimes still thinks: you’re being a collaborator, being inside and reforming things. Purity has been the greatest space compromised to enemies of democracy and criminal organizations. ‘I’m pure, I don’t dirty my hands.’ But that way Falcone’s left on his own. He turns away with some bitterness and lets it go. A statesman knows what his mission is: the institution. It’s not about politics. In Rome, Falcone works on the Superprocura (Super-prosecutor) project, the creation of a body to coordinate anti-mafia investigations throughout the country. It will serve to establish the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor’s Office, which still exists today, because Falcone, who was not only a great intellectual but also a great magistrate, understood that the battle against the Mafia must be won on a national and international level, not at the local level.

Even in this case they attack him, continuing to accuse him of not being independent from politics and of having been appointed only because he’s famous. The daily Il Resto del Carlino carries the headline ‘Falcone, undeserved fame’, and goes on:

Untrustworthy and Martelli-dependent. […] He was just one component (the most famous one) of Palermo’s anti-mafia pool. […] All Falcone did was add his signature. The indictments are the work of those in charge of the maxi-trials.

What they’re telling him is: you’re not even proficient, you’re just famous.