Rome, 23 August (Adnkronos) – A mystery has erupted in the Anti-Mafia Commission following the diffusion, in some internal Whatsapp chats, of a press release on the massacre of via D’Amelio by the leader of Forza Italia in the Senate Maurizio Gasparri, containing some falsified parts that do not correspond to the actual words in the original note diffused by Adnkronos.
It is Davide Mattiello, former deputy of the Democratic Party and current consultant of the Democratic Party group in the Anti-Mafia Commission, who made the case explode with a post on Facebook, later removed, where one of the phrases attributed to Gasparri is stigmatized: “General Mori, the officer De Donno… authentic heroes of legality… who KILLED MAFIOSI”, the ‘incriminating’ passage cited by Mattiello which refers to “a long press release” by Gasparri “punctually released by Adnkronos”, with “the intent of ‘beating’ those who oppose the rewriting of the historical truth about the massacre of via D’Amelio”.
“Beyond any other consideration,” Mattiello writes, “it would be appropriate for Gasparri to explain this sentence or deny it, because there is a long list of mafiosi killed (even in unclear circumstances), but I am not aware that the premature death of any of these has ever been attributed to the military of the ROS.” It is a pity, however, that in Gasparri’s statement, correctly released by Adnkronos, there is no reference to “killed” mafiosi but to “arrested” mafiosi.
So where did the error come from? Asked by Adnkronos, Mattiello confirms that on the afternoon of August 22, the press release with the altered phrase was circulating via Whatsapp in the Anti-Mafia Commission circles: “At first glance – says the consultant – it looked like an Adnkronos launch in every way” complete with time and acronym. “Beyond the other contents, which are questionable from the point of view of normal political dialectics, that phrase by Gasparri about ‘killed’ mafiosi was truly sensational. And it was contained in the text that was circulating yesterday among the members of the Anti-Mafia. I don’t know where it came from”.
“Did I receive it from a member of the Democratic Party? This is not so important… I received it several times. Yesterday at a certain point it was the press release of the moment. I received it from several people, with different roles: in a few minutes it was sent to me at least three times, always with this text. And that sentence, written in that way, really made an impression”, Mattiello replies again. In addition to circulating in the chats of insiders, the take with the manipulated sentence was picked up by some websites such as stampalibera.it and 19luglio1992.com.
“That phrase about ‘killed mafiosi’ had struck us, we were evaluating among ourselves what to do, because it is a strong phrase”. This is what the PD senator Walter Verini, member of the Antimafia, told Adnkronos about the fake launch.
The Democratic Party representative confirms that yesterday afternoon the ‘fake’ statement was circulating in the Antimafia chats, where it was taken as true. And he adds: “I don’t have to give advice to Gasparri. I see that there are newspapers that denounce conspiracies, it seems strange to me that Gasparri – who is certainly not shy – has not already reacted. I take into account that he did not say this sentence. But since this thing damages him, it would be the case that he, if anything, said something”.
“I will not take lessons from Verini in the face of a falsification that was allegedly made on a statement of mine in a chat room attended by left-wing figures. In practice, I said that Mori and his collaborators were heroes of legality and protagonists of the arrest of mafiosi. In this chat, a news item was falsified, published by Adnkronos correctly, and I was attributed the phrase according to which General Mori and the officer De Donno had ‘killed’ mafiosi. It is a sensational fake”, declared to Adnkronos the president of the Forza Italia senators Maurizio Gasparri after the case.
“I contacted the president and vice president of the Anti-Mafia Commission, also so that checks can be carried out on members of the Democratic Party who have been consultants to the Anti-Mafia in the past, and not now, in particular the former deputy Davide Mattiello. What has happened is shameful. The left has been reduced to falsifying the statements of others and building denigration campaigns based on lies”, remarks Gasparri, who says he is “indignant” and announces: “I will take the case to the Anti-Mafia Commission and the members of the Democratic Party, instead of giving lessons, will have to suffer them, because their bias and their ability to distort things is intolerable”.
“What happened in Antimafia is disturbing. Verini tries to throw smoke but the facts are very serious. To pollute the work of the commission, the Democratic Party, through its consultants and collaborators, has distributed via chat a press release disclosed by the Adnkronos agency but then falsified by some parties, by a member of the majority, Maurizio Gasparri. Verini and Schlein should clarify the reasons why this happened”. This is stated in a note by the deputy and organization manager of Fratelli d’Italia, Giovanni Donzelli.
“What is the Antimafia discovering that is disturbing the circles of the Democratic Party, so much so as to push its collaborators to spread a fabricated statement? Solidarity not only with Gasparri but with all the majority members of the Antimafia commission who with President Colosimo are working very well on issues that have never been touched upon until now with this courage and determination”, concludes the Fdi representative.
“As a member of the Anti-Mafia Commission, I consider what happened to Gasparri to be a summer hallucination on the part of the Democratic Party. And I sincerely hope that this is the case because otherwise there would be cause for concern. And it would be the usual political fire started for no reason at all.” This is what Alfredo Antoniozzi, deputy group leader of Fratelli d’Italia in the Chamber and member of the Anti-Mafia Commission, says.
“On the case of the fake phrases circulated to the detriment of Senator Gasparri, we are ready to discuss it in committee as soon as possible. The circumstances surrounding the mystification proposed by the left will need to be clarified. It is serious that phrases related to such a delicate and serious issue are being exploited. The Democratic Party will need to clarify in committee”, declared the deputy of Fratelli d’Italia and member of the Anti-Mafia commission Francesco Michelotti.
“Every day a representative of the left gets up and knows that he will have to run quickly to the press agencies to find a reason for his existence, in the eyes of a real country from which he is increasingly detached. Surreal, as always now, the declarations of the Democratic Party and the evaluations of their consultants even on fake notes attributed to Senator Gasparri. A left in disarray that now has difficulty distinguishing real news from hoaxes and relies on the latter to instrumentally attack the government parties. More than the group leader of Forza Italia Gasparri, the party injured by these hypothetical counterfeits, the Democrats should apologize for the huge blunder”. Thus in a note the deputy of Fratelli d’Italia Giandonato La Salandra, member of the Anti-Mafia commission.
“It is simply incredible that authoritative members of the Democratic Party did not take the time to verify the truthfulness of the words of their colleague Gasparri and fell for the fake news of a Friday in August. It was enough to scroll through the agencies and compare them with the text that was circulating in the chats of the left to realize that the words did not coincide and thus avoid a battery of press releases based on nothing, circulated only to fuel yet another sterile, instrumental and useless controversy”. Thus the senator of Fdi and member of the Anti-Mafia Commission, Giorgio Salvitti.
“Spreading unfounded news is not only a bad show by the left but also harms the search for the truth that, as members of the Anti-Mafia Commission, we seek daily to shed light on the massacre of via D’Amelio”, concludes Salvitti.
