Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press
Mr. Berlusconi during a voting session at the Senate in Rome last month.Italian Court Upholds Berlusconi Sentence, Setting Stage for Crisis
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: August 1, 2013
ROME
— For years, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi deftly navigated
the labyrinth of Italian justice, always finding an exit — until
Thursday, when Italy’s highest court handed him his first definitive
sentence, upholding a prison term for tax fraud and sending Italy’s
fragile government on the road to crisis.
Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
Protesters
demanding prison for former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gathered
on Thursday in front of Italy’s high court in Rome. The court’s decision
upheld a prison term for tax fraud.
Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press
Mr. Berlusconi during a voting session at the Senate in Rome last month.
Parts of Mr. Letta’s center-left Democratic Party are reluctant to share power with a now-convicted criminal. Meanwhile, the center-right People of Liberty party looked poised to split between Berlusconi loyalists and those seeking more independence from the former prime minister in a future bloc.
“The barometer signals a very strong storm,” said Giovanni Orsina, professor of contemporary history at LUISS Guido Carli and author of “Understanding Berlusconi.” “I expect a lot of quake tremors in the next few days, but I think that the government will survive.”
The Court of Cassation confirmed Mr. Berlusconi’s four-year prison sentence, which had already been reduced to one year under a law aimed at combating prison overcrowding.
Two lower courts had convicted Mr. Berlusconi and other defendants on charges of buying the rights to broadcast American movies on his Mediaset networks through a series of offshore companies and falsely declaring how much they paid to avoid taxes.
In other cases over the past 20 years, Mr. Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister, has been convicted of tax evasion, buying judges and embezzlement, but was either acquitted on appeal or the statute of limitations had run out. (A trial in which Mr. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a minor is continuing.)
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Italy ex-PM Berlusconi in angry tirade at jail ruling
"We are living in a country... that doesn't know how to be just"
Italy's
former PM Silvio Berlusconi has broadcast an angry video message after
his prison sentence for tax fraud was upheld by the country's highest
court.
Berlusconi said he was the innocent victim of "an
incredible series of accusations and trials that had nothing to do with
reality".The court also ordered a further judicial review on whether he should be banned from holding public office.
Berlusconi, 76, is unlikely to go to jail because of his age.
He is expected to serve house arrest or carry out community service.
'Judicial harassment'
The ruling by Rome's Court of Cassation, against which he cannot appeal, came after a three-day hearing. Berlusconi was not in court.
In an emotional nine-minute video, Berlusconi denounced the decision as "based on nothing, and which deprives me of my freedom and political rights".
Opponents of Silvio Berlusconi celebrated Thursday's court ruling
"No-one
can understand the veritable violence which has been reserved for me
through a series of charges and trials that had no basis in reality," he
said.He described the more that 50 court cases he has faced as "genuine judicial harassment that is unmatched in the civilised world".
"In exchange for the commitments I have made over almost 20 years in favour of my country and coming almost at the end of my public life, I have been rewarded with accusations and a verdict that is founded on absolutely nothing, that takes away my personal freedom and my political rights."
He criticised the country's judicial record, saying: "Is this the Italy that we want? Is this the Italy that we love? Absolutely not."
It is the billionaire businessman's first definitive conviction after decades of criminal prosecutions.
The case concerns deals that his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films.
The
courtroom dramas of Silvio Berlusconi are part of the backdrop to
Italian life. The nation has watched around two dozen trials unfold over
nearly 20 years.
But until now they have never seen Mr Berlusconi definitively convicted. And there can be no appeal.
This damning judgement will forever be part of his record - and he will surely see this as one of the darkest moments in his extraordinary political career.
But it could have been even worse: the judges did not uphold the order that would have barred Mr Berlusconi from public office. That will be re-examined by a lower court.
So Mr Berlusconi is certainly down, but not entirely out. He has been diminished and humiliated, but even now it might be a mistake to bet against him.
But until now they have never seen Mr Berlusconi definitively convicted. And there can be no appeal.
This damning judgement will forever be part of his record - and he will surely see this as one of the darkest moments in his extraordinary political career.
But it could have been even worse: the judges did not uphold the order that would have barred Mr Berlusconi from public office. That will be re-examined by a lower court.
So Mr Berlusconi is certainly down, but not entirely out. He has been diminished and humiliated, but even now it might be a mistake to bet against him.
The former prime
minister was sentenced to four years in prison at the conclusion of the
trial in October last year, though this was automatically reduced to a
year under a 2006 pardon law.
'Stay calm'The court at the time heard that he and other executives had bought TV rights at inflated prices to avoid paying taxes.
He was labelled the "author of a whole system of tax fraud".
The review of the lower court's five year ban on holding public office means Berlusconi can remain as a senator and as leader of his centre-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) for now.
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