Trials and allegations involving Silvio Berlusconi

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is part of
a series about
Silvio Berlusconi
  • Occupation
  • Political offices
  • Parties
  • Coalitions
  • Elections
  • Governments

Silvio Berlusconi's signature
Main article: Silvio Berlusconi

Trials and allegations involving Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) have been extensive and include

mafia, money laundering, perjury, tax fraud, underage prostitution influence and witness tampering
.

Allegations

Berlusconi was tried in Italian courts in several cases. The outcome for six of those cases were politically altered to end with "no conviction", because of laws passed by Berlusconi's

prosecutors later joined the parliamentary opposition
. Some of his attorneys are also members of parliament.

Overview of legal issues for Silvio Berlusconi
Status of trial Allegation
Convictions
  • Mediaset trial 2: on a personal tax evasion of €7.3 million committed in 1994–98 through illicit trade of movie rights between secret fictive companies.[14]
    (First-instance: 4 years jail and 3 years public office ban;[15] Appeal Court: 4 years jail and 5 years public office ban;[16] Supreme Court: 4 years jail[17] and 2 years public office ban[18][19])
Acquittals Acquittal, due to a changed law
Other acquittals
  • SME-Ariosto 1: bribes to the judges Renato Squillante (600 million lira) and Filippo Verde (750 million lira), swaying them to rule in favor of Berlusconi in a court case deciding to whom IRI should sell the SME company.[22]
    (First-instance: guilty of bribing Squillante but acquitted due to statute of limitations;[23] Appeal Court: Acquitted for complicity in the crime;[24] Supreme Court: Acquitted for complicity in the crime.[22])
  • Bribery of the
    David Mills to commit perjury case, that his false testimony had resulted in an incorrect acquittal for the charges against Silvio Berlusconi in the Arces process.[28]
    But when considering the statute of limitations now apply for all four charges in the case, the judicial system did not find it appropriate to reopen the case)
  • Medusa Film company purchase: false accounting equal to 10bn lira (€5.2 million), which were secretly transferred to Berlusconi's private bank accounts in 1988.[29]
    (First-instance: 1 year and 4 months imprisonment;[30] Appeal Court: Full acquittal;[30] Supreme Court: Full acquittal,[31] as he was too rich to be aware of such small amounts[32])
  • Macherio estate land acquisitions 2: embezzlement, tax evasion, false accounting for the company Idra.[33]
    (Appeal Court: full acquittal for all three charges)[34]
  • Mediatrade investigation (Milan): tax evasion and embezzlement from TV-rights traded by the company Mediatrade in 1999–02; a subcase of Mediaset Trial 1+2.[35]
    (Preliminary hearing: full acquittal;[36][37] Supreme Court: full acquittal[38])
  • Mediatrade investigation (Rome): €10 million tax evasion from TV-rights traded by the company Mediatrade in 2003–4; a subcase of Mediaset Trial 1+2.[39]
    (Preliminary hearing: Statute of limitations for 2003 offences and full acquittal for 2004 offences;[40] Supreme Court: appeal was rejected as inadmissible[41])
  • antitrust law, money laundering, and tax fraud equal to 100bn lira (€52 million).[42][43]
    (Spanish Supreme Court: full acquittal)[43]
Discharged
  • RAI-Fininvest advertising cartel: Berlusconi was through his status as upcoming Prime Minister accused of extortion towards RAI in September 1993, in the attempt of convincing them to sign a cartel agreement on the advertising shares between RAI and the Fininvest TV networks, to get softer competition and higher prices.[44]
    (Preliminary hearing: The judge ruled the case to be archived due to insufficient amounts of evidence)[44]
  • Drug trafficking:
  • Tax bribery on Pay-TV:
  • Mafia bombings of 1992–1993: Investigations dropped due to lack of evidence. Close associate Marcello Dell'Utri was convicted of collusion with the Mafia, but this was later overturned.[45]
  • Connection to the Mafia: Defendant together with Marcello Dell'Utri for money laundering.
  • Saccà case: Bribery and attempted bribery.
  • State flights: Abuse in the use of flight status.
  • Defamation by use of TV-medium: Defamation aggravated by the use of the television medium.
  • Trani investigation: Abuse of office for the President of the pressures on the AGCOM.
Guilty of extinct crimes Time limits extinct crimes[a]
  • Lodo
    statute of limitation
    acquittal)
  • All Iberian 1: 23 billion lira (€11.9 million) bribe to Bettino Craxi via an offshore bank account code-named All Iberian.
    (First-instance: 2 years 4-month jail; Appeal Court: acquitted since the statute of limitations expired before the appeal)
  • Bribery of lawyer
    David Mills: to make a false testimony in the two processes All Iberian and Bribery of the Guardia di Finanza.[47]
    (Statute of limitation acquittal)[48][49]
  • Abuse of office in the Bancopoli/Unipol affair: concerning the illegal publication of wiretapped conversations in a family newspaper in 2005.[50]
    (First-instance: 1-year jail + €80,000 compensatory damage payment to Piero Fassino;[51][52][53] Appeal Court: Acquittal due to statute of limitations, but upheld the compensatory payment.[54][55])
Time limits extinct crimes, due to a changed law
  • Lentini affair: false accounting.
    (guilty, but acquitted due to a reduced statute of limitations in a new false accounting law passed by the Berlusconi government)
  • Fininvest financial statements in 1988–1992: false accounting and embezzlement.
    (guilty, but acquitted due to a reduced statute of limitations in a new false accounting law passed by the Berlusconi government)
  • Fininvest consolidated financial statements: false accounting.
    (guilty, but acquitted due to a reduced statute of limitations in a new false accounting law passed by the Berlusconi government)
  • Mediaset trial 1: on false accounting and embezzlement committed in 1988–94 for the company Fininvest SpA.[14]
    (indicted in 2005, but in 2007, the charges were declined ahead of the first-instance court trial, due to statute of limitations)[14]
Amnesty extinct crimes
  • Masonic Lodge trial: committed perjury when he testified in a later libel court trial filed against three journalists in 1989, that he had only joined the P2 lodge shortly before it was revealed as illegal without even paying entry fee; which was contradicted by evidence that he had been a paying member for 3 years.[56]
    (Appeal Court: guilty, but offense was pardoned by an amnesty law passed in 1989)[56]
  • Macherio estate land acquisitions 1: false accounting for the company Buonaparte.[33]
    (guilty, but amnesty applied following the 1992 fiscal remission law)[34]
Ongoing trials
  • Bribery of senators supporting the Prodi government:
    Prodi government.
    (First-instance: court trial began on 11 February 2014)[57][58]
  • Defamation against
    Italian Chamber of Deputies, where two courts asked for annulment of its 22 September 2010 decree granting Berlusconi absolute parliamentary immunity, has been judged.[61][62][63] On 18 July 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled the decree indeed was unconstitutional and annulled it; meaning that the civil court proceedings against Berlusconi now can continue.[64][65]
    )

Notes:

  1. extenuating circumstances. "If the application of the statute of limitations due to terminate shall be a result of the granting of extenuating circumstances, the judgment is characterized by a prior acknowledgment of guilt of the accused and is a source of injury to him."[46]

Completed trials

Propaganda Due (P2) trial: False testimony (1989)

Receipt for membership of Silvio Berlusconi to "Propaganda 2" (P2) masonic lodge

In 1981, a scandal arose after the police discovery of

authoritarian regime. The list of people involved in P2 included members of the secret services and some prominent characters from political arena, business, military and media. Silvio Berlusconi, who was then just starting to gain popularity as the founder and owner of Canale 5 TV channel, was listed as a member of P2.[66][67]
The P2 lodge was dissolved by the Italian Parliament in December 1981 and a law was passed declaring similar organisations illegal, but no specific crimes were alleged against individual members of the P2 lodge. While the Italian Constitution had forbidden secret associations since 1948, Berlusconi later (in 1989) sued three journalists for libel for writing articles hinting at his involvement in financial crimes. In court, he declared that he had joined the P2 lodge "only for a very short time before the scandal broke" and "he had not even paid the entry fee". Such statements conflicted with the findings of the parliamentary inquiry commission appointed to investigate the lodge's activity, with material evidence, and even with previous testimony of Berlusconi, all of which proved that he had actually been a member of P2 since 1978 and had indeed paid 100,000 Italian liras (approximately equivalent to €300 today)[
false testimony in front of the Court of Verona, however the court could not pass sentence as the offense had been pardoned by an amnesty passed in 1989.[56]

Some political commentators claim that Berlusconi's electoral programme followed the P2 plan.[68]

Bribery of lawyer David Mills (1999)

Main article: David Mills financial allegations

UK media suggested was an attempt to distance herself from a potential scandal. She also denied having discussed the money with her husband; Private Eye magazine published a satirical front cover of Jowell with a speech bubble stating: "I have never met my husband". In December 2010, information obtained by the Wikileaks website revealed Mr Berlusconi had become very fond of Ms Jowell, referring to her in private company as 'piccolo puntaspilli' (the little pincushion).[citation needed
]

On 17 February 2009, Mills was found guilty of accepting a bribe of about 400,000

Court of Cassation gave a verdict towards David Mills of not guilty because the statute of limitations expired.[70][71] The appeals court ruled on 25 February 2012, in a separate case against Silvio Berlusconi, that the crime should be dated on the exact day when the bribery transfer took place in November 1999, and not at the time of the counter service delivered in 2000, as prosecutors had previously argued, and on that ground Berlusconi was also awarded a Statute of limitation acquittal.[48][49]

External relationship in mafia association

The Court of Palermo investigated Silvio Berlusconi and his associate Marcello Dell'Utri, on the charge of external partnership with Mafia associations and money laundering. Nine years later the trial ended with a sentence of 9 years imposed on Marcello Dell'Utri and the acquittal of Silvio Berlusconi.

Massacres of 1992–1993

The Court of Florence and Caltanissetta investigated Silvio Berlusconi's connection with the Sicilian Mafia. He was accused of connections with the people responsible for the massacres of 1992 (Capaci and via D'Amelio) where two prosecuting magistrates, involved in the Mafia trial known as "Maxi-processo" of the 1980s, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were brutally murdered.[72] The case was archived due to insufficient amounts of evidence found at the expiry of the investigative deadline.

RAI-Fininvest advertising cartel

Berlusconi was through his status as upcoming

Claudio Dematte (former RAI president), Gianni Locatelli (former RAI general manager), and Paolo Murialdi (former RAI administration director), it became clear that Locatelli had received oral "threats" from Berlusconi in September 1993, that if RAI rejected the proposed deal, then it would automatically also remove political goodwill by Berlusconi's political party to ever support potential recurrence of any RAI saving decrees. The preliminary hearing judge ruled in April 1995 for the case to be archived, due to insufficient amounts of evidence to proof extortion or incitement to corruption.[44]

All Iberian 1 (Illegal financing of a political party in 1997)

Conviction set aside because the statute of limitations expired before Berlusconi exhausted all appeals.

Bribery of the Guardia di Finanza (Arces process)

Silvio Berlusconi (owner of Fininvest) was accused of complicity in corruption. The crime was perpetrated by

tax frauds committed by the four Fininvest owned companies (all with headquarters in Milan): Videotime (1989), Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (1991), Mediolanum (1992) and TELE+ (1994).[25] The mix of interrogation by Paolo Berlusconi and Salvatore Sciascia (the former head of the tax office of Fininvest) made it clear, that the most important decisions were made by Silvio Berlusconi, who was aware of everything, and that sometimes the responsibility of managers were only a facade, because everything was decided by a very small group of people. Silvio Berlusconi was interrogated about his role in the case by the Milan prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro on 22 November 1994.[73] An official indictment was launched against Silvio Berlusconi on 14 October 1995.[74]

Court rulings
  • First-instance Court (July 1998): sentenced Silvio Berlusconi to 2 years and 9 months imprisonment, for all four bribes.[26]
  • Court of Appeals (May 2000): For Silvio Berlusconi, the
    Corte di Cassazione
    , Sect. IV, Sentence no. 5069, 21 May 1996.
  • Court of Cassation (October 2001): full acquittal for Silvio Berlusconi in all 4 cases. The other accused in the case were judged to:[25]
    • Paolo Berlusconi: full acquittal.
    • Alfredo Zuccotti (former managing director of Fininvest): 1 year and 4 months imprisonment.
    • Salvatore Sciascia (the former head of the tax office of Fininvest): 2 years and 6 months imprisonment.
    • Massimo Maria Berruti (the legal advisor to the group Segrate): 10 months imprisonment.
    • Vincenzo Tripodi (colonel of Guardia di Finanza): full acquittal.
    • Giovanni Arces (officer of Guardia di Finanza): 2 years imprisonment.
    • Angelo Capone (officer of Guardia di Finanza): 3 years imprisonment.
    • Francesco Nanocchio (officer of Guardia di Finanza): 2 years and 2 months imprisonment.

In April 2010, the supreme court noted through the published motivations of its ruling in the Bribery of lawyer

David Mills to commit perjury case, that his false testimony had resulted in an incorrect acquittal for the charges against Silvio Berlusconi in the Arces process.[28]
But when considering the statute of limitations now apply for all four charges in the case, the judicial system did not find it appropriate to reopen the case.

Illegal financing of a political party on All Iberian 1: statute of limitations

Court of First Instance: sentenced to jail (2 years and 4 months) for paying 21 billion lire (about 10 million euro) to Bettino Craxi via an offshore bank account codenamed "All Iberian".
Court of Appeal: the statute of limitations[75] expired before the appeal was completed so Silvio Berlusconi was acquitted.

Medusa Film company purchase

In October 1995, Berlusconi received a "notice of investigation" from the prosecutor Margherita Taddei, on charges of false accounting and embezzlement connected to the purchase by Reteitalia (a subsidiary of Fininvest and the holding company of Canale 5) of the company Medusa Film, back in 1988. According to the financial statements of Reteitalia the purchase had cost 28bn lira, but according to the owners of Medusa Film they only received 18bn lira for the sale. The difference on 10bn lira (equal to €5.2 million) had been silently transferred by Reteitalia in monthly tranches of 100 or 200 million lira at a time into five private bank accounts owned by Silvio Berlusconi. The initial response of Berlusconi, which came during a TV broadcast on 5 October 1995, was to say: "It' s absurd accusing me of embezzlement, since I own one hundred percent of Reteitalia". The prosecutor replied, that in Italy it is a crime to make hidden (not accounted for) payments to shareholders. Subsequently, Berlusconi declined to show up for interrogations with the prosecutor, referring to that he knew nothing about the money transfers to his five private bank accounts, and claimed it was so small amounts that he never himself had noticed/questioned why these extra amounts had been transferred. The prosecutor then instead interrogated four other business people from Reteitalia, and in November 1995 filed an indictment request for all five persons (including Silvio Berlusconi) for having committed false accounting and embezzlement. If the embezzlement charges would be proven by the court, this part of guilt would, however, be granted impunity due to a 1988 amnesty for the crime.[29]

Court rulings
  • First-instance court: 1 year and 4 months imprisonment for Silvio Berlusconi.[30]
  • Court of Appeals (February 2000): Full acquittal, since he was considered being too rich to be aware of such small amounts.a The four other Reteitalia managers charged in the case received: Adriano Galliani (acquittal), Livio Gironi (acquittal), Giancarlo Foscale (acquittal), and Carlo Bernasconi (conviction confirmed).[30]
  • Court of Cassation (October 2001): Full acquittal, since he was considered being too rich to be aware of such small amounts.a To be exact, the court ruled the previous Court of Appeals ruling to be upheld because: "re-examination of the same facts is not admissible to the Supreme Court".[31]

a Among the reasons for full acquittal were: (1) The 10bn transfers to Silvio's bank accounts were made by his father before he died, (2) As Reteitalia is managed independently from Fininvest managers, "one must also exclude a knowledge of the ex-post' enrichment and its causal" by Berlusconi, because it "would require the visibility of the 'increase of more than 10bn even after some months of using the bank accounts.", (3) But this visibility "is contradicted by reality," since "the multiplicity of bank accounts belonging to the family Berlusconi, the pulverization of the sum into five bank accounts and other large well-known heritage of Silvio Berlusconi in which the sums were widely divided to flow, postulate the impossibility of knowledge of both the extra saldo increases and especially the origin of the same.", (4) Without "knowledge and acceptance of the causal", there can be no "involvement of the defendant for the act of preparation false corporate communications.".[32]

Bribing a judge on Lodo Mondadori: statute of limitations

First Court: A

state attorney
refused to file the case and appealed against the ruling.
Appeal Court: statute of limitations[75] expired before the appeal was completed so Silvio Berlusconi was acquitted.

False accounting on All Iberian 2: not guilty (law changed)

First Court: On 26 September 2005, Berlusconi was

parliamentary majority
after the beginning of the trial, and was claimed by the opposition to be an ad personam law, i.e. aimed at acquitting Berlusconi.

False accounting on Fininvest Media Group Consolidated: statute of limitations

Allegation: 750 million euro of illegal (black market) funds stored by Fininvest in 64 offshore companies. The statute of limitations[75] expired due to the new laws on false accounting approved by Berlusconi's government, therefore an acquittal was given because no specific damaged party reported it to the government.

Embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting on Macherio estates: 3 acquittals and 1 amnesty extinct crime

First Court: acquitted for embezzlement and tax fraud, the statute of limitations[75] expired before a verdict was reached on the two cases of false accounting.[33]
Appeal Court: acquitted for embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting for the Idra company; while being guilty on false accounting for the Buonaparte company – a crime he however received amnesty for due to the 1992 fiscal remission law.[34]

False accounting on Lentini affair: not guilty (law changed)

Allegation: 5 million euros paid secretly to Torino football club for buying the player Gianluigi Lentini bringing him to AC Milan.
First court: The statute of limitations expired due to the new laws on false accounting approved by Berlusconi's government, therefore the case was closed with an acquittal on 4 July 2002.[77]

False accounting, embezzlement and tax fraud on Mediaset television and cinema rights: not proven

Silvio Berlusconi was on trial in relation to transactions carried out by the Berlusconi family's media company

acquitted Berlusconi, giving him the benefit of the doubt (not proven
).

Violation of antitrust law, money laundering, and tax fraud, through transactions by the Telecinco TV-channel (Spanish case): not proven

In Spain, Silvio Berlusconi, along with other

Niccolo Ghedini announced the Spanish supreme court had ruled a complete acquittal towards Berlusconi and all other previously accused in the case.[43]

Corrupting a judge and false accounting on SME-Ariosto: not guilty

At its outset, the trial SME-Ariosto involved both Cesare Previti and Silvio Berlusconi. Subsequently, a bill was approved by the Italian parliament, the so-called "Lodo Maccanico" act (also known as "Lodo Schifani", after the name of Renato Schifani, the lawyer of Berlusconi and now speaker of the Italian Senate who was also a member of parliament working on the law). This law guaranteed immunity to the five highest officers of the state (premier, president of the Republic, Senate's speaker, Deputy Chamber's speaker, Constitutional Court's president) during their period in office. To avoid complete suspension of the trial, the Court of Milan split it into two parts, one regarding Cesare Previti, the other Silvio Berlusconi. The Cesare Previti part of the trial resulted in a guilty verdict. In the other part (regarding Silvio Berlusconi) the Italian Prime Minister's innocence had still not been proven but the case had to be stopped because of the "Lodo Maccanico"' immunity act. On 16 April 2004, the Constitutional Court declared that the "Lodo Maccanico" violated articles n. 3 and 34 of the Italian Constitution,[78] therefore this immunity act was declared unconstitutional and the trial resumed. After 12 years of trial, Silvio Berlusconi was

i.e. full acquittal
).

Tax fraud on Telecinco: not guilty

Silvio Berlusconi was indicted in Spain for charges of tax fraud and violation of anti-trust laws regarding the private TV network

acquitted by the Spanish "Corte de Casacion
" in July 2008.

Country flights

On 3 June 2009, Silvio Berlusconi was charged Roman prosecutor Giovanni Ferrara with abuse of office for using government-funded flights for personal use.

Trani episode

Berlusconi was signed in the register of suspects, for some telephone interceptions where "he forced the director of a tv channel, to close the TV political program Annozero" as said by the magistrate Michele Ruggiero.

Investigation of Milan

In October 2010, Silvio Berlusconi and his son Piersilvio were investigated in connection with false financial statements.

Abuse of office in the Unipol case (2005)

In February 2012, Milan prosecutors charged Berlusconi with abuse of office in 2005, in connection with the publication of wiretapped conversations in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, which is owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo Berlusconi.[50][79] The publication of the conversations between then Governor of the Bank of Italy Antonio Fazio, senior management of Unipol and Italian centre-left politician Piero Fassino was a breach of secrecy rules and was seen at the time as an attempt to discredit Berlusconi's political rivals. Their publication also eventually led to the collapse of the proposed takeover of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro by Unipol and the resignation of Fazio.[79] The head of the company used by Italian prosecutors to record the conversations has been previously convicted of stealing the recordings and making them available to Berlusconi.[50] On 7 February 2012, at an initial court hearing, Berlusconi denied he had listened to the tapes and ordered their publication.[50] The first-instance ruling was issued 7 March 2013, and sentenced Berlusconi to a year in prison and the joint payment together with his also convicted brother, of 80,000 euro as compensatory damages in favor of Piero Fassino in addition to court litigation costs of €10,000.[51][52][53] On 31 March 2014, the Milan Court of Appeal ruled that the evidence did not clear Paolo and Silvio Berlusconi from guilt, but that the facts are now prescribed, which mean they were both acquitted due to the statutes of limitations. Although Paolo still had to pay €80,000 as compensatory damages to Fassino.[54][55]

Convictions

Tax fraud in the Mediaset trial

The

Italian lire), committed in 1988–98.[80][81]

Both indictments were related to achievement of personal tax evasion, through illicit trade of movie rights between Mediaset and secret fictive foreign companies situated in tax haven nations, causing fictive losses for Mediaset, with the trade gains being accumulated by the foreign companies owned by the indicted tax fraudsters, who ultimately had the gains paid out as personal profit without paying tax in Italy. In 2007, the court case at first-instance had not yet been launched, and the prosecutors dropped the (A) charges against Berlusconi due to the statute of limitations, and for the same reason the (B) charges were narrowed down to the 1994–98 period, in which the prosecutor charged Berlusconi for having committed a personal tax evasion of €7.3 million.[82]

On 26 October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of punishment by an Italian court for tax evasion.

prison overcrowding. Berlusconi and his co-defendants were also ordered to pay a 10 million euro fine and were banned from holding public office for three years.[15][84]

On 8 May 2013, the Court of Appeals in Milan confirmed the four-year prison sentence, and extended the public office ban to five years.

pardoned.[86] The decision marked the first time that Berlusconi received a definitive sentence, despite being on trial nearly 30 times during the last 25 years. In regards of calculating the exact length of the public office ban, the Court of Cassation asked the lower court to re-judge this, because of prosecutors having presented new legal arguments for the ban to be reduced from five to three years. A new anti-corruption law passed in late 2012, referred to as the Severino law [it], would bar Berlusconi from seeking elective office for six years, independently of the court's final ruling regarding the length of the public office ban. The ramification of his public office ban was that it made him ineligible to serve any public office but technically he would still have been allowed as a non-candidate to continue leading his party and centre-right coalition in election campaigns. A similar situation occurred in March 2013, when the leader of the Five Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, convicted over a road accident in 1988, led his party's 2013 election campaign despite not being able to run for public office because of a rule established within his movement.[87]

Due to being over 70 years of age, Berlusconi was not placed direct in prison but could decide if he wanted to serve his one-year jail term either by a house arrest at one of his private residences or by doing community service. As the gross prison term exceeds two years, the Severino law prompted the Senate to vote if Berlusconi shall be forced to resign his current senate seat immediately, or alternatively allowing the court imposed ban on holding public office only to take effect by the end of his current legislative term. The pending senate vote, combined with anger over Berlusconi's conviction (a poll indicated 42% of the public believed he was unfairly persecuted by the magistrates) presented a serious political challenge for the fragile ruling coalition.[87] On 3 August, Berlusconi suggested that unless a solution to his predicament could be found, Italy was at "risk of a civil war".[88] The following day, thousands of supporters gathered in front of his house in protest of the ruling.[88]

On 30 August, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano announced he had not selected Berlusconi as one of the new four lifetime senators, which are granted the privileges of being a lawmaker for life with some protected legal immunity, meaning they can continue working in politics even after being convicted guilty for criminal offences that otherwise would lead to ban from serving one of the public offices.[89] On 9 September, a Senate committee began its deliberations to decide if Berlusconi's public office ban shall start immediately or by the end of his current legislative term. Before the committee decision becomes effective, it also needed to be approved by a vote in the full Senate.[89][90]

The deliberations of the Senate committee lasted for several weeks before they reach a decision. According to the Severino law, which became enacted by the Monti government in December 2012, anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison is deemed ineligible to hold public office for a period of six years, or eight years if convicted for abuse of power, and should immediately be expelled from the parliament. Berlusconi argued that the Severino law can not be used to expel persons convicted for crimes committed before December 2012, and pleaded for the proceedings to be postponed until the European Court of Human Rights or the Constitutional Court of Italy had ruled, whether or not he was correct about his interpretation of the law. Berlusconi also stated that he in any case had decided to appeal the court ruling against him to the European Court of Human Rights, as he still claimed the ruling itself to be a political and unjust attempt by his opponents, to deprive him of his political power. The response by Prime Minister Enrico Letta's centre-left Democratic Party was to reject Berlusconi's plea, accusing him of only launching time-wasting maneuvers.[91] Berlusconi's PDL party then made a threat to withdraw their support for the government if the Senate committee expelled Berlusconi as senator. The Democratic Party replied by warning the PDL that they would reject any blackmail attempts, and in any case only would vote in the Senate committee according to the standard of the Italian law. Ahead of the Senate committee's voting, the leading criminal lawyer Paola Severino, who helped design the Severino law, stated to la Repubblica that this specific law in her professional opinion also applied for crimes being committed before its enactment in December 2012.[92]

On 10 September, at the second day of the Senate deliberations, the Democratic Party stated they intended to vote down all three PDL submitted motions to delay the Senate deliberations, and accused PDL of obstructing the work of the Senate committee by playing delaying tactics.

revived Forza Italia, no matter if the Senate would end up deciding to expel him or not.[95] On 25 September, the PDL parliamentary group agreed on a resolution to threaten the Senate, that if Berlusconi would be expelled, then all PDL parliamentarians would immediately "reflect on and decide according to his or her conscience", whether or not to show sympathy with Berlusconi by resigning their own seats in the Senate.[96] The Senate Committee nevertheless voted 15:8 in support for a recommendation to expel Berlusconi on 4 October,[97][98] and ten days later submitted a final report about the case so that it can be scheduled for a final vote in the full Senate by early November.[99][100] The Rules of Procedure Committee decided at its meeting on 30 October, by the votes 7:6, that Berlusconi's expulsion vote shall not be conducted as a secret vote but as an open public vote.[101] On 27 November 2013, the Senate voted 192:113 for enforcement of Berlusconi's immediate expulsion and a six-year ban from serving any legislative office.[102]

Berlusconi was expected to start serving his four-year prison sentence (reduced to one year), either under house arrest or doing unpaid social community work, in mid-October 2013.[90] In mid-October, he informed the court that he preferred to serve the sentence by doing community service. Because of bureaucracy in the legal court system, it was however expected his one-year-long full-time community service would only start in around April 2014.[103] On 19 October, the Milan appeal court ruled that Berlusconi's public office ban should be reduced from five to two years; which was later also confirmed by the Court of Cassation.[104] The court imposed this public office ban, which did not change the fact that, according to the Severino law,[105] Berlusconi received a ban preventing him from running as a candidate in legislative elections for a prolonged six-year period,[102] which effectively superseded the shorter court imposed public office ban.[106] Berlusconi began his community service at a Catholic care home centre on 9 May 2014, where he was required to work four hours a week for a year with elderly dementia patients.[107]

As of 2017, Berlusconi's appeal regarding his six-year public office ban was pending before the European Court of Human Rights.[108]

Ongoing proceedings

Bribery of senators supporting the Prodi government (2006)

In February 2013, Silvio Berlusconi was under investigation for corruption and illegal financing of political parties from the public prosecutor of

Avanti! was also investigated, and Sergio De Gregorio self-confessed being the recipient of the bribery.[110]

On 23 October 2013, Silvio Berlusconi and Valter Lavitola were both indicted by the judge for preliminary hearings, Amelia Primavera. For Senator De Gregorio the process has already been closed in a preliminary hearing, because he opted to self-confess and bargained a reduced sentence of 20 months in prison for the crime. The court hearing at first-instance for the indicted Silvio Berlusconi, was scheduled to start on 11 February 2014.

Olive Tree party) also testified to have been offered a bribe from Berlusconi by another ex-Senator Antonio Tomassini (a former member of the defunct Christian Democrats), to change political sides and join Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc, so that they together could cause the fall of the Romano Prodi government in 2006–08. According to the prosecutors, Valter Lavitola was as well working on behalf of Berlusconi as a go-between attempting to also bribe other senators.[111]

When his solicitor, Professor Coppi, "recalled the constitutional basis of the freedom of parliamentary activity, the prosecutor Woodcock reacted indicating the illegality of the transfer of money, which resulted in the sale of senators. The Naples Court ruled in favor of the second" thesis.[112]

On 20 April 2017 the Appeal Court of Naples ruled that, although the accusations against Mr Berlusconi were true, the statute of limitations applied, in other words the case had been "timed out".[113] It is worth noting that in spite of the overwhelming strength of the evidence against him, Mr Berlusconi went unpunished whilst the recipient of the bribe accepted a prison sentence. This was due to Berlusconi's government (in 2011) shortening the time limits for completing a successful prosecution before the statute of limitations kicked in, which allowed his lawyer to play for time.[114]

Defamation against Antonio Di Pietro (2008)

Berlusconi repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the educational degree of the former

Italian Chamber of Deputies then intervened in the case by passing a decree 22 September 2010, granting all Italian parliamentarians "absolute immunity" for words spoken while elected.[62]

On 5 October 2010, the court in Viterbo considered Berlusconi could not be judged or punished, because of the parliamentarian immunity Article 68 of the Italian constitution forbidding any legal prosecutions against words spoken by parliamentarians in the process of their "exercise of parliamentary duties", in conjunction with the Chamber of Deputies recently having voted for a decree to appoint Berlusconi absolute immunity for any spoken words while serving as a deputy. On 19 January 2012, this judgment was set aside by the Supreme Court, which ruled that Berlusconi had been speaking during a campaign rally and not in an institutional setting; meaning he was not covered by the immunity protection provided for by the constitutions Article 68, and consequently should face a new court trial to be held either at the Viterbo court or the Constitutional Court.[115][116]

On 10 January 2013, the Viterbo court decided to transfer the case for judgement directly to the Constitutional Court.

Italian Chamber of Deputies however shall be called for trial to defend and explain the reasons for passing their unconstitutional law from 2010.[60] The court hearing against the Chamber of Deputies took place on 8 July 2014,[63] where the constitutional court was asked to deem the concerned Chamber of Deputies decree to be unconstitutional and annul it, by the Court of Rome[61] and the Viterbo court.[62] On 18 July 2014, the Constitutional Court indeed ruled the decree to be unconstitutional and annulled it; meaning that the civil court proceedings against Berlusconi now can continue.[64][65]

Ruby process: Child prostitution and abuse of office (2010)

See also:
2013 Silvio Berlusconi conviction

Silvio Berlusconi was indicted for paying Moroccan nightclub dancer

Court of Cassation.[122]

Ongoing investigations

In addition to the ongoing court trials, Berlusconi was also involved in the following two ongoing legal investigations, which would have evolved to become an ongoing court trial if the judge at the preliminary hearing had indicted him of the alleged crime:

  • Ruby ter (2011–13): Corruption in judicial acts (bribing witnesses) in connection with evidence submitted at the main "Ruby case". Allegedly a bribery with €2500 paid per month for each of the 18 Olgettine girls from Arcore (the girls – including Ruby – participating in the evening events at Berlusconi's residents) to speak in favor of Berlusconi, had been started by his two defending lawyers, Niccolò Ghedini and Piero Longo, in the aftermath of the opened police investigation on 15 January 2011. In addition, the Mediaset journalist Silvia Trevaini had allegedly been bribed, not only by the same monthly fee but also by extra gifts equal to €800,000. Finally Ruby, in particular, had been promised by Berlusconi "a huge reward if she would keep quiet or otherwise make him mad", and Ruby had replied she was "waiting for €5 million". On 23 January 2014, the public prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati, asked for a legal case to be opened for a preliminary hearing.[123]
  • Illegal financing of the political party Italians in the World: On 16 April 2014, the Naples prosecutor deposited new documents in which Berlusconi was under investigation for the crime in recent years of illegal financing of the political party Italians in the World, being led by ex-Senator Sergio De Gregorio. Currently this process is under investigation, with an upcoming preliminary hearing to decide if a court indictment shall be filed.[124]

References

  1. ^ "All Iberian, Berlusconi assolto "Falso in bilancio non è più reato"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 26 September 2005. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Caso Lentini, reati prescritti". la Repubblica (in Italian). 5 July 2002. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Berlusconi-Fini, c'è l'accordo nel Pdl sui tempi dei processi". La Stampa (in Italian). 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  4. ^ Dolasilla (22 February 1999). "Il processo breve arriva al Senato e per i giudici parte la corsa contro il tempo" (in Italian). Loccidentale.it. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  5. ^ Stasio, Donatella (11 November 2009). ""Estinti" Mediaset e Mills ma non-Mediatrade-Rti". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  6. ^ "GIUSTIZIA: DI PIETRO, SPIACE FINI SI PRESTI A GIOCO". la Repubblica (in Italian). 10 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  7. ^ Pennello, Franco (10 November 2009). "Berlusconi incensurato? Sì, ma con 7 prescrizioni e 2 amnistie" (in Italian). Ilsalvagente.it. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  8. ^ "Judges urged to jail Berlusconi". BBC News. 12 November 2004. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Berlusconi Counts Cost of Legal Battles". Reuters. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Italy's Berlusconi wins immunity from prosecution". Reuters. 22 June 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Berlusconi : le "bon Nicolas Sarkozy" a été mon avocat". Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). France. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Corfù, il vertice del disgelo "Riparte collaborazione Nato-Russia"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 27 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Il Cavaliere: "Mandai il mio avvocato Sarkozy da lui per la Georgia..."
  13. ^ "Berlusconi al vertice Nato-Russia "Quando mandai l'avvocato Sarkozy"". L'Unione Sarda (in Italian). 27 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  14. ^ a b c "I pm: 3 anni e 8 mesi di carcere a Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 19 June 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Silvio Berlusconi sentenced for tax fraud". BBC News. 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Process Mediaset TV rights: Berlusconi sentenced to four years on appeal (Tax Fraud: confirmed the first instance judgment, including the disqualification from holding public office for 5 years)". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 8 May 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  17. ^ "Italian high court upholds Berlusconi's sentence in tax fraud case". CNN. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  18. ^ "Italy court bans Berlusconi from public office for two years". Reuters. 19 October 2013.
  19. ^ "Diritti tv, Cassazione conferma 2 anni di interdizione per Silvio Berlusconi" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 ORE. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  20. ^ a b "Disciplina degli illeciti penali e amministrativi riguardanti le societa' commerciali, a norma dell'articolo 11 della legge 3 ottobre 2001, n. 366" (in Italian). 11 April 2002.
  21. ^ a b "Processo Sme, Berlusconi assolto "Il falso in bilancio non è più reato"". La Repubblica (in Italian). 30 January 2008.
  22. ^ a b "Sme, la Cassazione assolve Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 27 October 2007.
  23. ^ "Scandalosa assoluzione di Berlusconi Prodi, Fassino, D'Alema e Bertinotti non-commentano. La responsabile dei DS per la giustizia Finocchiaro: "Una buona notizia l'assoluzione del premier" Prescritto il reato di corruzione del giudice Squillante" (in Italian). PMLI. 15 December 2004.
  24. ^ "Sme, Berlusconi assolto dall' accusa di corruzione". La Repubblica (in Italian). 28 April 2007.
  25. ^ a b c d "Tangenti alle Fiamme Gialle. Assolto Silvio Berlusconi". La Repubblica (in Italian). 19 October 2001.
  26. ^ a b "Berlusconi è colpevole". La Repubblica (in Italian). 8 July 1998.
  27. ^ a b "Tangenti alle Fiamme Gialle. Berlusconi assolto in appello". La Repubblica (in Italian). 9 May 2000.
  28. ^ a b "Cassazione, Mills fu teste reticente" (in Italian). ANSA. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 19 March 2013.
  29. ^ a b "Processate Berlusconi per L' affare Medusa". La Repubblica (in Italian). 23 November 1995.
  30. ^ a b c d "Giustizia. Berlusconi assolto nel processo Medusa" (in Italian). Rainews 24. 9 February 2000. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011.
  31. ^ a b "Caso Medusa. La Cassazione assolve definitivamente Berlusconi" (in Italian). Rainews 24. 1 October 2001. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011.
  32. ^ a b "Patrimonio ingente, Berlusconi non-sapeva". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 11 July 2000.
  33. ^ a b c "I terreni di Macherio. Chiesti sedici mesi per Silvio Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 22 January 1999.
  34. ^ a b c "Berlusconi, nuova assoluzione in appello". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 29 October 1999.
  35. ^ "Frode sui diritti tv, per Berlusconi richiesta di rinvio a giudizio". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 9 April 2010.
  36. ^ "Caso Mediatrade, prosciolto Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 18 October 2011.
  37. ^ "Mediatrade,prosciolto Berlusconi,a giudizio P.Silvio, Confalonieri". Reuters (in Italian). 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012.
  38. ^ "Mediatrade, Berlusconi prosciolto. Respinto il ricorso dei pm di Milano". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 18 May 2012.
  39. ^ "Inchiesta Mediatrade Il pm: Berlusconi a processo per frode". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 17 February 2012.
  40. ^ "Diritti tv, Berlusconi prescritto e assolto". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 27 June 2012.
  41. ^ "Mediatrade, prosciolto Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 7 March 2013.
  42. ^ a b "Nessuno mi può giudicare" (in Italian). Societacivile.it. 11 December 2004.
  43. ^ a b c "Berlusconi assolto per il caso Telecinco". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 18 October 2008.
  44. ^ a b c "Per il Cavaliere un'archiviazione e forse nuova indagine". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 7 April 1995. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.
  45. ^ "Italy: Close associate of ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi cleared of negotiating with mafia after bombings".
  46. ^ Sentenza Corte di Cassazione n.5069 del 21 maggio 1996, sezione IV.
  47. ^ "Dal rinvio a giudizio con Mister B. alla prescrizione l'avventuroso processo all'avvocato Mills". La Repubblica (in Italian). 25 February 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  48. ^ a b "Processo Mills, Silvio Berlusconi prosciolto per prescrizione". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 25 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  49. ^ a b "Mills, la lettera-confessione non-vale contro Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 15 May 2012. p. 22. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  50. ^ a b c d "Silvio Berlusconi faces fourth trial on wiretap charges". BBC News. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  51. ^ a b "Processo Unipol, Silvio Berlusconi condannato a un anno. A Fassino 80mila euro di risarcimento" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 ORE. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  52. ^ a b "Unipol, 1 anno a Berlusconi. A Fassino risarcimento da 80mila euro" (in Italian). TM News. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  53. ^ a b "Berlusconi sentenced to 1 year jail in wiretap trial". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  54. ^ a b "Berlusconi wiretap charge timed out, says court". ANSA. 31 March 2014.
  55. ^ a b "Unipol: the regulation saves Silvio Berlusconi from a new judgment". New Europe. 1 April 2014.
  56. ^
    ISBN 88-359-4915-7
    .
  57. ^ a b "Compravendita senatori, Berlusconi e Lavitola rinviati a giudizio" (in Italian). ANSA. 23 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  58. ^ a b "Compravendita senatori, Berlusconi a processo a Napoli" (in Italian). Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI). 23 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  59. ^ a b "Diffamazione Berlusconi-Di Pietro, atti alla Corte Costituzionale" (in Italian). TusciaWeb. 10 January 2013.
  60. ^ a b "Consulta: sì a ricorso di Di Pietro contro Berlusconi". L'Unità (in Italian). 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  61. ^ a b "Reg. conf. poteri n.13 del 2011 pubbl. su G.U. del 29/08/2012 n.34 (Appellant: Court of Rome – Section 1.a civil; Defendant: Chamber of Deputies)" (in Italian). Corte Costituzionale. 29 August 2012.
  62. ^ a b c "Reg. conf. poteri n.3 del 2013 pubbl. su G.U. del 28/08/2013 n.35 (Appellant: Justice of the Peace of Viterbo, Defendant: Chamber of Deputies)" (in Italian). Corte Costituzionale. 28 August 2013.
  63. ^ a b "Public hearing on 8 July 2014 (case 10+11): Video" (in Italian). Corte Costituzionale. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  64. ^ a b "Sentenza 221/2014 del 09/07/2014" (in Italian). Corte Costituzionale. 18 July 2014.
  65. ^ a b "Sentenza 222/2014 del 09/07/2014" (in Italian). Corte Costituzionale. 18 July 2014.
  66. ^ "The War They Wanted, the Lies They Needed". Vanity Fair. July 2006. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012.
  67. ^ Proceedings of the parliamentary inquiry commission headed by Tina Anselmi
  68. ^ "Bettazzi: 'Berlusconi Realizza Il Piano Di Rinascita Della P2'". la Repubblica (in Italian). 10 January 1995. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012.
  69. ^ "UK lawyer guilty in bribery case". BBC News. 17 February 2009. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  70. ^ "David Mills bribery conviction quashed by appeals court". BBC. 25 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  71. ^ "Mills decision a boost for Berlusconi – The Irish Times – Sat, Feb 27, 2010". The Irish Times. 27 February 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  72. ^ http://www.societacivile.it/memoria/articoli_memoria/archiviazione.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  73. ^ "'Presidente, l'accusiamo...'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 23 November 1994.
  74. ^ "Un passo indietro obbligatorio". La Repubblica (in Italian). 15 October 1995.
  75. ^ a b c d According to Italian law, the "statute of limitations" does not imply innocence but acquits the accused from any further legal proceeding; it may in fact indicate guilt if the statute of limitations is applied after conceding benefits for previous good conduct, since such benefits can only be granted after guilt is ascertained, as per:
    Corte di Cassazione
    , Sect. IV, Sentence no. 5069, 21 May 1996
  76. ^ "All Iberian, Berlusconi acquitted. "False accounting is not a wrongdoing anymore"". la Repubblica. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  77. ^ (in Italian) http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/07/05/caso-lentini-reati-prescritti.html
  78. ^ "Diritto Penale - leggi sentenze dottrina". Archived from the original on 18 October 2005. Retrieved 7 September 2005.
  79. ^ a b Sanderson, Rachel (7 February 2012). "Berlusconi faces another court case". Financial Times. Milan. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  80. ^ "Milano, chiusa l'indagine Mediaset. Berlusconi verso il rinvio a giudizio". La Repubblica (in Italian). 19 February 2005. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
  81. ^ "Chiesto il rinvio a giudizio per Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 27 April 2005. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.
  82. ^ "I pm: 3 anni e 8 mesi di carcere a Berlusconi". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.
  83. ^ "Silvio Berlusconi sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  84. ^ "Silvio Berlusconi Sentenced To Four Years in Prison Over Mediaset Tax Evasion". HuffPost. 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  85. ^ "Process Mediaset TV rights: Berlusconi sentenced to four years on appeal (Tax Fraud: confirmed the first instance judgment, including the disqualification from holding public office for 5 years)". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 8 May 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  86. ^ Sala, Alessandro (August 2013). "Confermata la condanna per Berlusconi Il Cavaliere ottiene solo lo stop all'interdizione". Corriere della Sera. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  87. ^ a b Nardelli, Alberto (2 August 2013). "Silvio Berlusconi sentence: Is this the end for 'Il Cavaliere'?". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  88. ^ a b Agnew, Paddy (5 August 2013). "Protesters rally in Rome against ruling on Berlusconi". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  89. ^ a b "Berlusconi allies hit out over president's lifetime senator snub". Financial Times. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  90. ^ a b Hornby, Catherine (24 August 2013). "Berlusconi's party says his removal from parliament is 'unthinkable'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  91. ^ "Italian senators debate Berlusconi expulsion". BBC. 9 September 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  92. ^ Day, Michael (22 August 2013). "'We won't be blackmailed': Italy's fragile coalition government close to collapse as centre-left prime minister Enrico Letta warns People of Freedom party that he won't buckle over Silvio Berlusconi". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  93. ^ "Berlusconi allies step up threats over Italian Senate ruling". Reuters. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  94. ^ "Italian lawmakers delay showdown over Berlusconi". Reuters. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  95. ^ Moody, Barry (18 September 2013). "Berlusconi vows to stay in politics as ban approaches". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  96. ^ "Berlusconi's MPs threaten mass walk-out". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  97. ^ "Italy Senate Committee Votes in Favor of Ousting Berlusconi". The Wall Street Journal. 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  98. ^ "Full Italian Senate Vote Looms on Berlusconi Expulsion". Voice of America. 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  99. ^ "Forfeiture Berlusconi. Postponement of date and secret ballot. PD: "It may be obvious." PDL: "Barbarians"". la Repubblica (in Italian). 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  100. ^ "Berlusconi, missing date for forfeiture vote in the Senate, likely in November" (in Italian). Reuters Italia. 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  101. ^ "Decadenza di Berlusconi, in Senato la decisione avverrà col voto palese". La Stampa (in Italian). 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  102. ^ a b "Italian Senate votes to expel Berlusconi". CNN. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  103. ^ "Italy ponders Silvio Berlusconi community service request". BBC. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013.
  104. ^ "Diritti tv, Cassazione conferma 2 anni di interdizione per Silvio Berlusconi" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 ORE. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  105. ^ "Court bans Berlusconi from parliament for two years". France 24. 19 October 2013. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014.
  106. ^ "Italy court bans Berlusconi from public office for two years". Reuters. 19 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013.
  107. ^ "Berlusconi begins one-year community sentence". BBC. 9 May 2014.
  108. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (22 November 2017). "Silvio Berlusconi takes public office ban to human rights court". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  109. ^ "The charge is based on a singular reversal of provisions intended to monitor and protect (free) parliamentary activity. Since our Constitution prohibits the imperative mandate to MPs (in essence, the Member may at any time at its discretion to change its political position no risking forfeiture of the mandate given by the voters), the prosecution of the criminal case it has not already felt that you could not configure the corruption (to act contrary to official duties) provided that any official duty exists in the parliamentary leader, but on the contrary argued – and supports – that the very payment of a sum of money has, in fact, led to the rise of a mandatory (prohibited)": see http://www.goleminformazione.it/articoli/immunita-parlamentare-diritto-politico-lo-scudo-di-cartone.html#.VYo0i2AuV6B.
  110. ^ "Berlusconi indagato a Napoli per compravendita di senatori". La Repubblica (in Italian). 28 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  111. ^ "Rossi 'offered bribe' to join Berlusconi". ANSA. 7 May 2014.
  112. ^ (in Italian) Giustizia: lo scudo di cartone, tra magistrati e parlamentari rapporto sempre più difficile Il Garantista, 12 July 2015 Archived 27 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  113. ^ "Compravendita senatori, prescrizione per Berlusconi". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  114. ^ "Cosa cambia con la prescrizione breve? Berlusconi "prescritto" per Mills a luglio | Blitz quotidiano". www.blitzquotidiano.it (in Italian). 23 March 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  115. ^ "Cassazione: Berlusconi accusato di diffamazione a Di Pietro, si riparte da zero" (in Italian). Adnkronos. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  116. ^ "Cassazione: Berlusconi accusato di diffamazione a Di Pietro, si riparte da zero" (in Italian). LiberoQuotidiano.it. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  117. ^ "Italian ex-PM Berlusconi sentenced in Ruby sex case". BBC News. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  118. ^ "Processo Ruby, Silvio Berlusconi deposita appello e chiede assoluzione". Il Fatto Quotidiano. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  119. ^ "Silvio Berlusconi cavalca la guerra in procura per rallentare il processo Ruby". HuffPost. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  120. ^ "Legal victory for Berlusconi as court annuls prison sentence". The Italy News.Net. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  121. ^ "Processo Ruby, Berlusconi assolto in appello" (in Italian). Ilpost.it. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  122. ^ "Caso Ruby, clamorosa sentenza in appello: Berlusconi assolto da tutti i reati". La Repubblica (in Italian). 18 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  123. ^ ""Ruby ter", indagato Berlusconi È accusato di avere corrotto i testimoni" (in Italian). Corriere Della Sera. 23 January 2014.
  124. ^ "Napoli, pm chiede nuove indagini su Silvio Berlusconi". Il Giornale (in Italian). 16 April 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trials_and_allegations_involving_Silvio_Berlusconi&oldid=1185296604"