Italy poised to pass law to stop Berlusconi trial

Financial Times ^ | June 18 2003 | Tony Barber

[knighthawk]

Italy's parliament was poised on Wednesday night to pass a law that will freeze Silvio Berlusconi's corruption trial, days before the prime minister and billionaire businessman takes over the European Union's rotating presidency.

A vote was scheduled in the lower house, where Mr Berlusconi's centre-right coalition has a firm majority. This month the bill was passed by the Senate, or upper chamber.

In the view of Italy's centre-left opposition, the measure is perhaps the most glaring example since Mr Berlusconi's election victory two years ago of how he has exploited his parliamentary majority to ram through legislation designed to extricate him from legal troubles.

The measure gives immunity from prosecution to Italy's five highest-ranking state officials - the head of state, the prime minister, the head of the constitutional court and the heads of each chamber of parliament - for as long as they hold office.

Of these, Mr Berlusconi is the only one facing criminal charges. He is on trial in Milan accused of bribing judges to influence the privatisation of SME, a state-owned food conglomerate, in 1985.

Mr Berlusconi, appearing in court on Tuesday for only the second time in the three-year-old trial, said there was no evidence against him.

He has maintained that a network of leftwing magistrates in Milan was determined to sabotage his premiership and to overturn the verdict of Italian voters in the 2001 elections.

Parliament has taken three weeks to process the immunity law, a speed almost unprecedented for Italian legislation, and dictated by the fact that Italy assumes the six-month EU presidency on July 1.

Mr Berlusconi's supporters, and even some critics, said it would reflect badly on Italy if his trial were to drag on through the EU presidency.

Centre-left politicians and other anti-Berlusconi activists intend to challenge the law by petitioning for a referendum on whether the legislation should be revoked.

Antonio di Pietro, a prosecutor who spearheaded the anti-corruption drive led by Italian magistrates in the early 1990s, said: "The law, which the premier wanted in order to avoid trials, is discriminatory and humiliates citizens by swindling them out of their right to equality under the judicial system."

The law must be signed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italy's head of state, before it can take effect. If Mr Ciampi has not done so by June 25, Mr Berlusconi may reappear in court on that day.

But Mr Ciampi is expected to sign the law quickly, giving Mr Berlusconi a breathing space at least until his premiership ends. If he serves his full term until 2006, a retrial of the SME case would almost certainly be necessary, ensuring that he would ultimately be protected by a statute of limitations.

[knighthawk]

Europe-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[facedown]

This seems kind of fishy but politics in Italy is even more of a contact sport than here.

[Cicero]

The way Italian politics work, it wouldn't surprise me if he had to bribe the judges simply to get them to follow the law. I don't doubt that this is mainly a political witch hunt.