[A-List] Italy: Berlusconi vs. judiciary

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Judges confront silent Berlusconi over links to Mafia
By Peter Popham in Rome
The Independent, 27 November 2002

Sicilian judges travelled to Rome and confronted Silvio Berlusconi, the
Italian Prime Minister, yesterday but he refused to answer questions on
alleged Mafia connections.

The judges are presiding over the trial of a former close colleague of Mr
Berlusconi who is accused of laundering Mafia money. They have been trying
to question the Prime Minister for months. Two previous meetings were
cancelled by Mr Berlusconi. Prosecutors believe huge sums of money that
poured into Fininvest, Mr Berlusconi's media company, in the late 1970s came
from the Mafia. They claim that Marcello Dell'Ultri, a Sicilian, is the
link. He has been on trial on charges of aiding and abetting the Mafia since
1997.

The judges wanted to ask Mr Berlusconi to reveal the source of the money.

Yesterday he told them he "was availing himself of the power to say
nothing". When Mr Dell'Ultri was put on trial in 1997, Fininvest said in a
statement: "Any attempt to link the group to the Mafia is absurd."

Mr Berlusconi is Italy's richest citizen, with a media empire worth
billions. But he has been dogged by grave criminal allegations for years,
including money laundering, tax evasion, associating with the Mafia,
complicity in murder and the bribing of politicians, judges and the Ministry
of Finance police.

He has been found guilty three times on corruption charges, but the
convictions have either been extinguished by the passage of time or quashed
on appeal. Many charges are still pending.

One of his oldest friends, Fedele Confalonieri, chairman of his television
network, Mediaset, said in his defence: "Italy is not a normal country. Even
an anomaly like Mr Berlusconi must be understood in the context of the
country. He has done nothing worse than any businessman in Italy."

The case against Mr Dell' Ultri goes to the heart of the doubts about Mr
Berlusconi. An investigation into his fortune by The Economist last year
concluded that "the ultimate source of the money [used to finance Fininvest]
... cannot be traced ... the possibility of money laundering ... cannot be
ruled out."

At Mr Dell'Ultri's trial earlier this year, a prominent anti-Mafia
investigator said the source of the funds could not be traced. Mr Dell'Ultri
started working for Fininvest in 1974. He was chief executive of the
advertising wing of the empire, which generated the cash.

According to a lawyer representing the province of Palermo, a civil party in
the case, "the prosecution has shown strong evidence of Mr Dell'Ultri's very
close links with the Mafia".

Mr Berlusconi continues to outflank the judiciary. Monday saw the first
implementation of a law that allows trials to be shifted to another judicial
region if the accused prove "legitimate suspicion" that the judges are
biased.

The bill provoked furious criticism in parliament, where opposition
politicians insisted that its purpose was to get the trial of another close
colleague of Mr Berlusconi, Cesare Previti shifted from Milan to a
friendlier court in another city.

The government claimed that the law was "in the general interest of
citizens". But its first effect after it was signed into law was indeed the
suspension of the Previti trial.