Quotes of the Day

To know whether to trust a man, they say, you must look into his eyes. While Italy last week got its first good glimpse of Mafia turncoat Antonino Giuffrè, his deep dark eyes and sunken facial features were kept hidden from view. During his live video testimony, broadcast on Tuesday in a Palermo courtroom, the 57-year-old former top lieutenant of Cosa Nostra — the Sicilian Mafia — offered sometimes electrifying allegations in the Mafia-association trial of Senator Marcello Dell'Utri, a close political ally and business partner of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But throughout the four hours of questioning, Giuffrè sat with his back to the camera — a security requirement. That left the three judges looking for other possible signs of sincerity in the man who says he decided to turn state's evidence two months after his April arrest because of Pope John Paul II's canonization of his religious idol, Padre Pio.

While most took the religious confession with a grain of salt, some may have seen contrition in the video image of Giuffrè's slightly slouched posture, or anxiety in his constant twirling and clicking of a ballpoint pen. The question of whether to trust this man — nicknamed Manuzza (the Hand) for his stunted right hand due to childhood polio — presents key questions about the state of Italy's public affairs. If Giuffrè is to be believed, important officials of the country's largest political party — allegedly including the Prime Minister himself — had direct dealings with the Mafia. If Giuffrè's story is not credible, that means politically motivated prosecutors may be using the courts to attack democratically elected leaders.

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 his court testimony, Giuffrè went on to say that during the late 1970s, top Mob boss Stefano Bontade used to visit Berlusconi at the businessman's villa on the outskirts of Milan. Speaking later with reporters, Berlusconi's lawyer flatly dismissed the testimony as "false" and an attempt to discredit the Prime Minister and his party. Dell'Utri remained calm throughout, but took the microphone at the very end for his right to "spontaneous remarks." "Mr. Giuffrè had never mentioned my name before today," Dell'Utri said, referring to previous closed-door depositions. "What mutual interests are going on here?"

Should turncoat informants like Giuffrè be believed? Since changes in the law in the 1980s, Italian magistrates have used Mafia collaborators to convict hundreds of fellow mobsters and dozens of corrupt politicians. But the pool of credible turncoats has largely dried up. Antonio Ingroia, lead prosecutor against Dell'Utri, said the case is just the latest chapter in the Mob's storied links with elected officials. "Cosa Nostra is an organization that can't live without a close relationship with the politicians," Ingroia told Time. He said turncoats like Giuffrè, whom he called the most valuable collaborator since the mid-1990s, are essential to unlocking the puzzle of secret criminal organizations — though their testimony must be backed up with hard evidence.

But Dell'Utri's lawyer, Enzo Trantino, said prosecutors like Ingroia have become dependent on untrustworthy witnesses: "These are men who have no problems of conscience. They've committed so many homicides they've lost count." A verdict in the Dell'Utri trial, which began in 1997, is expected by the end of 2003, with the Senator facing a maximum of 12 years. As for Giuffrè, who authorities believe has more than 40 murders under his belt but will likely see several life sentences reduced for his cooperation, the next stop is as a witness in the Mafia-association trial of former seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Giuffrè, no doubt, will again testify with his back to the judges.

• JEFF ISRAELY/Palermo
• An informer claims key members of Italy's ruling Forza Italia were married to the Mob