Berlusconi to defend himself on TV, in courtrooms

[October 08, 2009]  ROME (AP) -- Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday he will go on TV and appear in courtrooms to prove that corruption and tax fraud charges in two trials against him are false.

The trials in Milan are set to resume after a top Italian court overturned a law granting Berlusconi immunity from prosecution while in office. The ruling by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday dealt the Italian leader a significant blow, handing prosecutors another chance to seek his conviction.

The ruling added to the problems of the premier, already engulfed in a headline-grabbing sex scandal over his purported dalliances with young women.

Last weekend tens of thousands took to the streets of Rome against his alleged attempts to curb freedom of the press. A few days later a court in Milan ordered his holding company Fininvest to pay a devastating euro750 million ($1 billion) to a rival for a case dating from the 1990s.

"These two trials are laughable, they are a farce which I will illustrate to Italians also by going on TV," Berlusconi said of the Milan trials that are set to resume. "I will defend myself in the courtrooms and ridicule my accusers, showing all Italians ... the stuff I am made of."

Berlusconi has already ruled out stepping down, and his conservative allies, who have comfortable majority in parliament, have rallied to his support.

"We'll continue to govern without this law," the ever-combative premier said on state radio. He added that he felt "absolutely necessary and indispensable to the democracy, freedom and well-being of this country."

Berlusconi, 73, is still widely popular in Italy, despite accusations from his wife that he has had inappropriate relationships with far younger women and allegations from a self-described call girl that he spent a night with her. The scandal erupted in the spring after his wife announced she was divorcing him.

Berlusconi says he is "no saint" but has denied ever paying anyone for sex or having any improper relationships.

The immunity law spared the country's four top office holders -- the premier, president and two parliament speakers -- from prosecution while in office. It had been pushed through by Berlusconi's coalition in 2008 when the premier faced separate trials in Milan for corruption and tax fraud tied to his Mediaset broadcasting empire.

The proceedings against Berlusconi, who denies all charges, were suspended as a result of the law, drawing accusations that it was tailor-made for the premier. Berlusconi has a history of legal troubles stemming from his private interests and he has been either acquitted or cleared because the statute of limitations had expired.

But the Constitutional Court's ruling said the immunity legislation violated the principle that all are equal before the law, paving the way for the trials to resume.

The corruption trial is particularly threatening, because in the meantime the premier's co-defendant has been convicted of accepting a bribe to lie in court to protect Berlusconi.

Still, even if convicted, Berlusconi could still stay in power as sentences in Italy are usually not served until all avenues of appeal are exhausted. It is also possible that the statute of limitations will kick in before then.

In the Milan corruption trial, Berlusconi was accused of ordering the 1997 payment of at least $600,000 to British lawyer David Mills in exchange for the lawyer's false testimony at two hearings in other corruption cases in the 1990s.

Berlusconi's portion of the trial was frozen when the immunity bill was passed but the proceedings continued for Mills. In February, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. Mills, the estranged husband of Britain's Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, has maintained his innocence.

His appeal is set to begin Friday, Italian news reports said.

Berlusconi faces the tax fraud charge in a trial over Mediaset's purchase of TV rights.

In a separate ruling just a few days ago, Fininvest was ordered to pay euro750 million ($1 billion) to a rival for its 1990s takeover of the Mondadori publishing house. Fininvest said Wednesday the ruling is unjust and it will seek to suspend the judgment pending an appeal.

The civil damage award stems from a case in which three Berlusconi associates were convicted of corrupting a judge so he would overturn a ruling that had gone in favor of industrialist Carlo De Benedetti and against Berlusconi for control of Mondadori.

[Associated Press; By ALESSANDRA RIZZO and ARIEL DAVID]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.