Berlusconi and the "Scomparsa Dei Fatti"

I'm posting a story about a lawyer who was found guilty in Italy this week of taking a bribe in exchange for giving false testimony in a trial against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The story appeared in yesterday's New York Times; I was not going to post the story here because it just seems like more of the same.

But then my friend Ilaria forwarded me an email from Italy with the subject line: "La Scomparsa dei Fatti" ("The Disappearance of the Facts"), which says that stories about the conviction were conspicuously absent from news broadcasts and newspapers in Italy, where Berlusconi controls much of the media.

So here's the story out in the light where it belongs.

Italy Finds Lawyer Guilty of Taking a Bribe in Exchange for Protecting the Premier
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: February 18, 2009
David Mills was found guilty of taking $600,000 to provide false testimony in two trials involving Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/world/europe/18italy.html