Politics
Italy: Berlusconi trial to resume on 16 November
Milano, 26 October (AKI) - The trial of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for alleged tax fraud and false accounting in the purchase of film rights in the United States by one of his companies, Mediaset, will resume in the northern city of Milan on 16 November. It is the second case against Berlusconi to be reactivated after Italy's top court stripped him of immunity against prosecution earlier this month.
The first case to be restarted against Berlusconi after Italy's Constiutional Court ruling on 7 October was the appeals trial of British tax lawyer John Mills, who has been convicted in a corruption case involving Silvio Berlusconi.
Mills' appeals trial reopened in Milan on 9 October with defence lawyers demanding that Berlusconi testify because he had not appeared in the original trial.
Mills has appealed the four-and-a-half-year jail term handed to him for accepting a bribe of 600,000 dollars from Berlusconi in 1997 in exchange for giving false testimony in court. Mills claims he is innocent.
Berlusconi's Media film rights was suspended in September pending the Italian Constitutional Court's ruling on the Alfano law, which granted legal immunity to the four most senior office-bearers including the post of prime minister.
In its 7 October ruling, the court struck down the law on the grounds that it violated the principle that everyone is equal before the law, and that any such measure required a constitutional law or amendment.
After the ruling, Berlusconi claimed he was "the most persecuted man of all time". He has announced plans to hit back at the legal system, which he claims is in the hands of biased leftwingers. He said he intends to amend the constitution and reform the judiciary.
Berlusconi claims to have spent 200 million euros in legal fees defending himself 109 trials since he entered politics in 1993, but has continued his political career. In some of the cases, he was found guilty of several charges of illegal party financing, corruption, bribery and false accounting - but he always won on appeal, thereby avoiding jail.
However, in most cases he was either acquitted or time ran out under Italy's statute of limitations.
Observers say it is unlikely he stand trial in the Mills case as the charges against him expire in 2011.
The Mediaset television and film rights trial expires in 2014. it is unlikely that the case and any appeals will be completed before time runs out.
Berlusconi has described the two trials against him as "false, laughable and absurd."
The first case to be restarted against Berlusconi after Italy's Constiutional Court ruling on 7 October was the appeals trial of British tax lawyer John Mills, who has been convicted in a corruption case involving Silvio Berlusconi.
Mills' appeals trial reopened in Milan on 9 October with defence lawyers demanding that Berlusconi testify because he had not appeared in the original trial.
Mills has appealed the four-and-a-half-year jail term handed to him for accepting a bribe of 600,000 dollars from Berlusconi in 1997 in exchange for giving false testimony in court. Mills claims he is innocent.
Berlusconi's Media film rights was suspended in September pending the Italian Constitutional Court's ruling on the Alfano law, which granted legal immunity to the four most senior office-bearers including the post of prime minister.
In its 7 October ruling, the court struck down the law on the grounds that it violated the principle that everyone is equal before the law, and that any such measure required a constitutional law or amendment.
After the ruling, Berlusconi claimed he was "the most persecuted man of all time". He has announced plans to hit back at the legal system, which he claims is in the hands of biased leftwingers. He said he intends to amend the constitution and reform the judiciary.
Berlusconi claims to have spent 200 million euros in legal fees defending himself 109 trials since he entered politics in 1993, but has continued his political career. In some of the cases, he was found guilty of several charges of illegal party financing, corruption, bribery and false accounting - but he always won on appeal, thereby avoiding jail.
However, in most cases he was either acquitted or time ran out under Italy's statute of limitations.
Observers say it is unlikely he stand trial in the Mills case as the charges against him expire in 2011.
The Mediaset television and film rights trial expires in 2014. it is unlikely that the case and any appeals will be completed before time runs out.
Berlusconi has described the two trials against him as "false, laughable and absurd."
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