Pushing Past the Night by Mario Calabresi Page A

the secretary of Hands Off Cain. Everyone should work for a cause he or she believes in. It’s what happened later that shocked me. The debate in theChamber, followed by the controversy in the newspapers, was truly indecent. The politicians outdid themselves to defend D’Elia, themselves, their decisions, and their behavior. D’Elia did not utter a single word of remorse. His defenders in the Chamber failed to pronounce even one word of remembrance for the man who had been murdered. I felt so alone after that day. A wave of depression came over me. Thank goodness some people spoke out, particularly in Florence, where the mayor, the speaker of the regional assembly, and representatives of every party expressed their solidarity. I especially appreciated the fact that many town councillors, some from very small towns in ‘Red’ Tuscany, felt strongly enough about this to vote in favor of a motion asking D’Elia to turn down his appointment.”
    Mariella Magi Dionisi feels as if she’s been condemned to spend her whole life in the shadow of the late 1970s. She finds her way back to the present only when she talks about her daughter. “For two years now, I’ve had a grandson … He’s such a joy! You should see how cute he is!”
    A new controversy erupted in November of the same year when it was revealed that Roberto Del Bello, the personal secretary of the Deputy Minister of the Interior, had been convicted of membership in an armed group and served a prison sentence of four years and seven months. In December yet another scandal broke when the Minister of Social Solidarity appointed Susanna Ronconi to the National Council on Drug Addiction. Ronconi seemed to have excellent credentials in the field, on the basis of both her experience and her publications. But she had also been a member of the Red Brigades commando that in 1974 attacked an office of the Neo-Fascist Party in Padua and took the lives of two people. This time the controversy ended with her resignation. The Rome prosecutor’s office also began an investigation of the minister for official misconduct: as a former terrorist, Ms.Ronconi was prohibited from holding public office, so her appointment was illegal. She contested the judiciary’s interpretation and complained that she was being “shackled to a story from thirty years ago.” She added: “No one is giving any importance to what I’ve done since then. It’s not right. It’s vindictive. I do not deny my responsibility and I know that compensation for human life is not possible, but I served my sentence in full and as proof that I’ve changed there is the truth of the life that I’ve lived and the concrete commitment I’ve made.”
    On January 29, 1979, Emilio Alessandrini was killed by eight gunshots fired by two members of Prima Linea, Marco Donat Cattin and Sergio Segio, shortly after dropping off his son Marco at school. He was thirty-seven, the same age as his son is today. Marco Alessandrini is a lawyer in Pescara, his father’s hometown. His father was a prosecutor who distinguished himself first for his investigations into right-wing terrorism—he uncovered the Neo-Fascists’ role in the Piazza Fontana massacre and the Italian Secret Service’s obstruction of the investigation into it—and then for an investigation into the left-wing terrorism of a Milan chapter of Autonomia Operaia. Marco has his father’s smiling face, broad forehead, gentle manners, and passion for basketball.
    Marco doesn’t enjoy speaking in public, but he feels compelled to by a strong sense of duty. His speeches are remarkable for the precise and polished language he uses. “I want to help feed my country’s hunger for memory.” The first time he found the courage to speak out was during an interview with
Corriere della Sera
. “It’s not true that time heals all wounds. My mother was