Italy’s supreme court heard today Silvio Berlusconi’s last appeal against a jail sentence and ban from public office for tax fraud in a case which could threaten the survival of the shaky coalition government.
If five top judges hand down the first definitive conviction to the four-times prime minister in dozens of court cases against him, it will mark the end of two decades in which he has dominated politics through his media power and political skill.
The judges called a one-hour lunch adjournment after one of them delivered a summing up of the legal arguments and the judgements from two lower courts. After the break public prosecutor Antonello Mura will present his case.
Berlusconi’s chief lawyer, Franco Coppi, told journalists it was very unlikely the court would reach a decision today because of other cases facing the judges. Experts say it could take as long as Thursday.
Coppi also said the defence would not request that the case be postponed until September – one possible outcome – although the judges might decide to do that on their own account.
Moderate politicians have urged the court to delay the
ruling for the sake of political stability, due to the uncertain consequences if Berlusconi is convicted.
The judges of the Court of Cassation are hearing a final appeal by the 76-year-old media magnate against a four-year jail sentence, commuted to one year under an amnesty, and a five-year ban from office handed down by lower courts for the fraudulent purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset media empire. Three other people were also convicted in the case.
If definitively convicted, Berlusconi would not normally go to prison because of his age but would have to do community service or serve his sentence at home.
Berlusconi accuses leftwing magistrates of abusing their powers to try to bring him down in more than two dozen court cases since he stormed to power for the first time in 1994.
The case was fast-tracked to be heard by a special summer session of the supreme court to avoid part of any sentence being annulled by the statute of limitations.
Although they are waiting for a signal from Berlusconi, PDL hawks have called for everything from a mass resignation of its government ministers to blocking Italy’s motorways if the court rules against him.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a senior PDL parliamentarian, said the media magnate had faced 30 trials. «If this is not a political use of justice what is?»
Source: Buenos Aires Herald