ROME -- Italy's constitutional court began deliberations Tuesday on whether a law giving Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top Italian officials immunity from prosecution while in office is legal under the constitution.
A decision against Berlusconi would have major implications for the premier and the government. The opposition says the country might need new elections.
When the immunity bill was passed last year, Berlusconi was on trial in Milan accused of corruption. The trial was suspended, pending review by the Constitutional Court.
But if the court determines the law is unconstitutional, the trial presumably could resume, raising the prospect of having an elected leader on trial for allegedly corrupting a judge.
Berlusconi has denied the charges and his political allies insist they'll stand firm behind him regardless of the court's decision. His lawyers, though, have raised the prospect that he might have to resign if the court rules against him since he would be unable to do his job.
At the same time, a ruling in Berlusconi's favor would strengthen his government at a time when it has been under attack because of the premier's personal problems, including a sex scandal that has dominated headlines for months.
The decision could come as early as Tuesday, but could be delayed until next week.
Three days ago a judge in a different case handed down a devastating ruling against Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest. The court ordered Fininvest to pay euro750 million ($1 billion) to a rival for its controversial 1990s takeover of the Mondadori publishing house.
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.
Due to the reversal, Mondadori is now part of Fininvest. Fininvest has said the ruling is unjust and it will seek to suspend the judgment pending an appeal.
Berlusconi said Monday he was astounded by the judgment and insisted _ perhaps with a view also to Tuesday's Constitutional Court deliberations _ that the government would "carry out its five-year mission and nothing will make us betray the mandate that Italians have given us."
Berlusconi has a history of legal troubles stemming from his business interests. In past cases, he has either been acquitted or cleared of the charges because the statute of limitations had expired or because he enjoyed immunity as premier.
He has always maintained his innocence and depicted himself as a victim of left-leaning magistrates.
The law before the Constitutional Court, spearheaded through Parliament by Berlusconi's allies, grants immunity to the premier, the president and the two speakers of Parliament while in office. Because Berlusconi was on trial at the time the legislation was passed, critics charged the legislation was tailor-made to save him from prosecution.
© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
