Top Italy court strikes down law shielding Berlusconi (Roundup)

Oct 7, 2009, 17:38 GMT

Rome - Italy's Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday against a law shielding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials from prosecution.

The ruling could lead to the resumption of trials involving the premier, including one for corruption in Milan that was suspended following the introduction of the immunity law last year.

The court, consisting of 14 men and one woman, reached a verdict following almost two days of deliberations over the law which protects Italy's premier, president and two parliament speakers from prosecution while in office.

The court found that the government's measure is a violation of Article 3 of Italy's constitution which says all citizens are equal before the country's law, news reports said.

'It is a political(ly motivated) verdict,' Berlusconi's spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti said in a statement.

'But Berlusconi, the government and (parliament's centre right) majority will continue governing, as the Italian people have always asked them to do with their vote in the April 2008 elections,' Bonaiuti added.

The government has steadfastly defended the law which it says is modelled on similar provisions in France granting that country's president immunity from prosecution while in office.

But opposition leaders say it was tailor-made to help Berlusconi overcome his longstanding legal woes.

Some commentators suggested that a decision by the court to reject the law would trigger a government crisis and even Berlusconi's resignation.

However, echoing Bonaiuti's statement, Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi in his reaction to the court's ruling, indicated the government which enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament would press on.

'Berlusconi does not want new elections,' he said.

Earlier, speaking ahead of the ruling, the outspoken Bossi, who leads the Northern League party, Berlusconi's junior coalition partner, promised to 'mobilize people' against the court in the event that it were to reject the law.

Three-time premier and media magnate, Berlusconi over the course of his political career has faced several legal battles, mostly stemming from charges of corruption and tax violations.

In one case Berlusconi is suspected of having paid 600,000 euros (875,000 dollars) to a British lawyer and tax-haven specialist David Mills, in return for false testimony in two trials in the 1990s.

Berlusconi was originally a co-defendant in Mills' trial in Milan, but was struck from the case following the introduction of the immunity law.

Mills, who like Berlusconi denied any wrongdoing, in February received a four-and-half year sentence.

Two other trials involving Berlusconi that were suspended because of the immunity law - one accusing him of tax fraud related to the purchase of TV rights by his Mediaset group and the other alleging he tried to bribe opposition senators - may also now be revived by magistrates.

In recent months controversy over the 73-year-old Berlusconi has mostly involved sex scandals, including his wife's decision to divorce over his links to an 18-year-old woman and allegations by a prostitute that she and several other women were paid to attend private parties hosted by the premier.

But Wednesday's ruling has again cast the spotlight over the premier legal problems which he blames on what he says are Communists within Italy's judiciary targeting him in a political vendetta.

The Constitutional Court ruling also comes just days after a Milan civil court ordered the Berlusconi-controlled conglomerate Fininvest to pay 750 million euros in damages to rival CIR, over the takeover of the Mondadori media group.

The case stems back to a 1991 deal in which Fininvest was given control over Mondadori by a Rome appeals court.

A court decision in 2007 found that Fininvest had bribed a judge to win favour over CIR.

Berlusconi himself was not involved in the suit due to the statute of limitations.

However, on Monday a judge said in arguments that Berlusconi was 'jointly responsible' for corruption by his Fininvest company in the battle to buy Mondadori.

Berlusconi has denied all wrongdoing in the case in which Fininvest has indicated it intends to lodge an appeal.