Silvio Berlusconi due in court

Italian prime minister to appear in court for the first time since June 2003 after immunity from trial lifted

Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to appear in court for the first time in almost eight years in a trial over alleged fraud over the acquisition of television broadcasting rights.

The constitutional court lifted Berlusconi's immunity from trial earlier this year, exposing him to three corruption and fraud cases linked to his Mediaset broadcasting empire and a separate trial in which he is accused of having sex with an underage prostitute.

The last time the 74-year old prime minister appeared in court was in June 2003.

Prior to the constitutional court ruling in January, the cases had been frozen due to a law which allowed him to claim that he was too busy with his official duties to prepare his defence adequately and stand trial.

He and several other people, including his son, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, who is deputy chairman of Mediaset, are accused of fraud and embezzlement over the acquisition of television rights for inflated prices.

The defendants reject the accusations.

"None of the facts on which the Milan prosecutors have built their case are true," Berlusconi said in a telephone interview on Italian television before the hearing.

When asked if he would attend other hearings as part of a change in his defensive strategy, Berlusconi said: "I will go to those at which I can present myself, aiming to not suspend the trials because all the trials are absolutely absurd and built on nothing."

A separate trial in which Berlusconi is accused of bribery reopened in Milan last week but the premier, who was due to brief the cabinet on the Libya emergency, did not appear in court.

Berlusconi has denied doing anything illegal in any of the cases and says he has been unfairly targeted by politically motivated magistrates who want to bring him down.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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