Niccolò Ghedini

Niccolò Ghedini

Niccolò Ghedini (22 December 1959 – 17 August 2022) was an Italian lawyer and politician who was the lawyer of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Quotes

Quotes are arranged in chronological order

• It is no coincidence that the lawyer defending Zappadu is a member of the European Parliament from Antonio Di Pietro's Italia dei Valori party. He wears two hats—lawyer and parliamentarian—that should not be confused. I mean: if the victim is the Prime Minister and the defendant is being defended by a member of an opposition party... well... it’s as if I were to bring a civil action in any trial against, say, D’Alema, Fassino, or Prodi.
  • Quoted in Paolo Berizzi, Da Ghedini esposto-bis per Villa Certosa "Sequestrare le altre cinquemila foto", Repubblica.it, 13 June 2009.
  • Antonello Zappadu is the photojournalist who took hundreds of photos of Silvio Berlusconi and his guests at Villa Certosa, some of which were published by the Spanish newspaper El País on June 4, 2009

• Even if this girl’s allegations were true—and they are not—the Prime Minister would, according to the reconstruction, be the end user and therefore never criminally liable.
  • Quoted in Ugo Magri, Il premier: tutta spazzatura, La Stampa.it, 18 June 2009.
  • regarding Patrizia D'Addario, the woman who, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, claimed—saying she had recordings as proof—that she had received money and a nomination for the Bari elections after two parties at Palazzo Grazioli, Silvio Berlusconi's residence in Rome

• The Lega aspires to a fragmented, quasi-feudal world of city-states, and yearns for a sort of autarky: with a “yes” to polenta and a “no” to pineapple, as if this were a problem of the future...
  • Quoted in Dino Martirano, Ghedini, arringa sulla Lega: ha idee autarchiche e feudali, Corriere.it, 21 September 2009.

• The law is the same for everyone, but its application is not necessarily so.
  • Quoted in Lodo Alfano, seduta sospesa aggiornata la camera di consiglio, Repubblica.it, 6 October 2009.

• Ciancimino’s statements regarding Milano Due are completely devoid of any factual basis or logic, and can be refuted with documentation at any time. All financial flows related to Milano 2—a real estate project that even today is considered one of the finest achievements in our country—are more than transparent and have repeatedly been subject to thorough audits and verifications. [...] All findings have demonstrated the entirely lawful origin of all the money used.[7]
  • Quoted in Umberto Lucentini, "Milano 2 per noi fu un affare", Espresso.Repubblica.it, 17 November 2010.

• Santoro is a great professional; I appreciate him; he’s someone who does his job very well. He may well be biased, but he does so clearly. He doesn’t deceive the viewer. Interviewer: Did you enjoy going there, Ghedini? Ghedini: It was an exhausting battle, but a good one. I preferred it to so many self-righteous shows.
  • Quoted in Monica Guerzoni, Travaglio stupito: fulmine a ciel sereno. E il «nemico» Ghedini: con lui belle sfide, Corriere.it, 19 May 2010.

• Santoro gets on my nerves because he’s fighting a friend of mine. But I appreciate his professionalism. He’s biased, but in an open way. Interviewer: Do you prefer Vespa or Santoro? Ghedini: I have more fun on Santoro’s show.
  • Quoted in Claudio Sabelli Fioretti, Ghedini: "Berlusconi sotto processo fa comodo anche a qualche amico", La Stampa.it, 2 August 2010.

• I don’t like going there (to AnnoZero) to play that role, and I don’t like that ring where they call you on just because they want to tear you apart. I go—it's my duty—but I feel the breath of hatred, and in some way I feed it too, of course.[10]
  • Quoted in Antonello Caporale, La confessione di Ghedini "Mezza Italia mi odia la colpa è anche mia", Repubblica.it, 30 September 2010.

• [About a wiretap of Giuseppe Graviano] No one has shown us this conversation. If it existed, we would have to listen to it to verify Graviano’s actual words. In any case, he knew he was being recorded and might have misled them. I am not aware of any meeting between Berlusconi and Graviano or anyone directly or indirectly linked to him. Much less with a well-known cousin of him.
  • Quoted here.

• [About Giuseppe Graviano’s statements] After 26 uninterrupted years of imprisonment, Mr. Graviano suddenly makes statements clearly aimed at obtaining procedural or prison benefits by inventing meetings, figures, and episodes that are implausible and untrue. One can, among other things, perfectly understand the deep animosity toward President Berlusconi for all the laws enacted by his governments specifically against the Mafia. Obviously, all appropriate legal actions will be taken before the judicial authorities.
  • Quoted here.

Interviews

Dino Martirano, "Il premier? Non ha mai pagato le donne", Corriere.it, 18 June 2009

• The situation is laughable: President Berlusconi, who works around the clock, is a man of great wealth, charm, and zest for life... He certainly doesn’t need anyone to bring him women.
• To think that Berlusconi needs to pay a girl 2,000 euros just to go out with him seems a bit much to me. I think he could have plenty of them, for free.
• Berlusconi has great respect for women and no inclination to pay a woman to have a relationship with him.

Fabrizio Roncone, Ghedini: il Cavaliere spiegherà che non è impotente, Corriere.it, 4 September 2009

• This time we took action purely as a matter of principle. A newspaper—namely *L'Unità*—cannot write that a person is impotent or a pig without expecting the accused person to take offense and react.
• Berlusconi is ready to go to court to explain that not only is he not a big pig, but he isn’t impotent either.
• You see, not everything is the result of political cunning. There are also moves dictated by pride and a sense of honor. And why on earth [...] shouldn’t Berlusconi be able to explain to twenty million Italians—his loyal voters—that he is perfectly capable?