Posted on 05/24/2003 10:16:20 AM PDT by knighthawk
A Milan prosecutor yesterday claimed evidence from Swiss bank accounts proved that alleged accomplices of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, had bribed magistrates to win a corporate takeover battle in the 1980s.
Ilda Boccassini said the banking evidence demonstrated the "crude truth" of what had happened as she summed up at the end of a politically charged three-year trial that could seriously damage Mr Berlusconi's reputation as he prepares to assume the EU presidency in July.
The prosecutor said $434,000 had passed from an account controlled by Mr Berlusconi's Fininvest company to his lawyer's account and then to that of a Rome magistrate in March 1991. The prosecution alleges that Mr Berlusconi bribed Rome magistrates to prevent a rival from gaining control of the state-owned SME food group.
"If documents are photographs of the past, then bank documents are photographic self-portraits," Ms Boccassini told the court. "If I write a cheque and somebody cashes it, then a trace remains that is immutable in time."
On Thursday the prime minister said he intended to pass a law that would grant immunity from prosecution for the head of state and government and the speakers of the two houses of parliament. He would not, however, seek immunity for their co-defendants, he said.
This would still leave Mr Berlusconi vulnerable to guilt by association, but the measure was reportedly forced on him by the president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who warned him that wider immunity would be unconstitutional.
Mr Berlusconi has been engaged in a media campaign against the alleged bias of left-wing Milan magistrates who, he claims, were trying to hound him out of politics. His campaign acquired particular vigour after Mr Previti, who is a member of his Forza Italia party and was defence minister in his 1994 government, was convicted of bribing magistrates in a battle for control of the Mondadori publishing company. On that occasion too, Mr Previti was allegedly acting on Mr Berlusconi's behalf.
Mr Berlusconi's trials have generated fierce controversy, with the prime minister claiming in court and on television that he deserved a medal for preventing the sale of SME at a give-away price and alleging that Romano Prodi, the European Commission president who was responsible for the sale as head of the IRI state holding company, had been involved in the payment of bribes in connection with the deal. What had emerged at the trial, Mr Berlusconi said, was the exact opposite of the truth.
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
I believe they instituted some reforms to do away with perpetual musical chairs government a few years ago.
Well, this was expected since Berlusconi strongly supported the war in Iraq, and GW's war policy. He has the Italian liberals and powerful unions against him in a constant bitter conflict with his rightwing government. And then, there is the fact that Berlusconi is one of the richest men in Italy if not the richest man, worth over $10 billion US.
That's why it's selective prosecution. You know the old saying: When in Rome..., anyway Berlusconi has already lasted longer than many of his recent predecessors, perhaps they're ready for a change, they've already had 50 some governments formed since WWII in Italy, I guess their political scene is anything but dull, eh?
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