ROME: Despite the controversies, the immunity bill currently being introduced by Italy’s parliament was being portrayed by political analysts on Wednesday as a much-needed opportunity to herald some kind of truce in the fierce battle that has pitted Premier Silvio Berlusconi against the judiciary for nearly a decade.
Ever since his decision to join the political arena, back in 1994, the country’s richest man has had to deal with a string of accusations brought against him by magistrates.
The charges have ranged from illegal party financing to bribing finance police tax inspectors, from false book-keeping in connection with the purchase of his Medusa film production house to accusations that he used hidden funds to buy a player for his AC Milan football club.
He was found guilty by several courts, but was subsequently either acquitted on appeal or had the charges brought against him dropped because of Italy’s statute of limitations.
In at least two cases, changes to the law introduced by his centre-right government, such as the decriminalisation of accountancy crimes, allowed the statute of limitations to kick in early and save him from prosecution.
Berlusconi has repeatedly portrayed himself as the victim of a political vendetta inspired by left-wing magistrates, with the effect of poisoning the political debate and dividing Italians into two irreconcilable camps.
Berlusconi built his huge business empire during the 1980s, a period of Italian history in which corruption was particularly rife.
Most of his supporters are prepared to accept that Berlusconi may be guilty of misdemeanour, but endorse the view that magistrates have been persecuting the prime minister unfairly while going soft on other, equally corrupt, businessmen. Centre-left voters strongly dislike the idea of being ruled by such a shady figure.
In the latest, highly publicised case, Berlusconi stands accused of bribing judges in Rome to prevent a business rival from purchasing the state-owned food conglomerate SME, back in 1985. Berlusconi appeared in court on Tuesday to deny the charges and promised to return to complete his defence.
That will no longer be necessary. The approval expected later on Wednesday of a bill granting judicial immunity to Italy’s top five institutional figures, including its prime minister, will effectively freeze any proceedings brought against him while he remains in office. His current mandate is scheduled to expire in 2006.
The bill’s approval comes at a delicate time for Italy. In less than two weeks’ time, his government will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union for the next six months.
As Angelo Panebianco, a political analyst writing for Il Corriere della Sera put it: “The match between Berlusconi and the judiciary will be suspended for the duration of the EU presidency. This will be a good thing for the country and its image abroad.”
Parliamentary immunity was abolished in 1993, at the height of a massive corruption scandal that toppled the country’s regime. A year later, Berlusconi’s first government was brought down after just seven months in office by the Northern League, which pulled out of the coalition following reports that the prime minister had been placed under investigation.
Since his election victory of 2001, the Berlusconi government has approved a series of highly controversial bills dealing with legal matters.
One such bill involved allowing defendants the right to ask that a trial be transferred to a new court if there is a “legitimate suspicion” that the judge is biased against them.
The so-called Cirami law was invoked by Cesare Previti, a close Berlusconi aide who was recently found guilty of corruption. Italy’s supreme court ruled that judges in Milan were not biased against him.
Previti’s use of the Cirami law provided ammunition to opposition lawmakers, who have been arguing that Berlusconi lawmakers have rushed bills through parliament with the sole aim of preventing Previti and the prime minister from being sentenced.
“The problem of the relationship between the judiciary and politics does not exist,” wrote Giulio Anselmi in the left-leaning La Repubblica on Wednesday. “What really looms is the judicial woes involving Silvio Berlusconi, who is willing to use any instrument in his power, including his enormous personal wealth, to halt his trials.”
Berlusconi’s numerous attempts to use his political power to counter the charges brought against him are now the subject of irritation among some of his coalition allies, who have blamed a recent defeat in local elections on the prime minister’s fixation with magistrates.—dpa
