Italy’s president testifies in mafia collusion case

Italy’s president testified for three hours yesterday behind closed doors in a Mafia trial over purported negotiations between the state and organised crime to stop terror attacks in the 1990s, an unprecedented commingling of politics, law enforcement and the mob inside the presidential palace.

The office of President Giorgio Napolitano said the 89-year-old president responded to all questions put to him, including those he could have refused to answer. Some questions came from the lawyer of Italy’s most notorious mob chieftain, Salvatore ‘Toto’ Riina.

Prosecutors were seeking Napolitano’s testimony in connection with the trial of a former government official accused of giving false testimony in the investigation over purported state-mafia negotiations. Napolitano has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was called as a witness.