Silvio Berlusconi returned to court Monday, as a defendant, after an absence of eight years. The preliminary hearing of the case Mediatrade, which is accused of tax fraud, embezzlement and false accounting, was a mere legal process. But around Berlusconi in Milan show was organized predictable media and a noisy demonstration of its fans and its detractors.
Since 2003, the head of the Italian Government had eluded justice appointments. Now stripped of political-legal shield that protected him, Berlusconi could not avoid the engagement, but continued to show defiance. During the hearing, said nothing. He did his attorneys. The Italian leader is simply to shake hands with the judges.
The procedure was quick. The next hearing will be April 4 and 2 and 30 May. On leaving the running board of his car and smiling Berlusconi greeted his supporters. "All right, I'm preparing for the April 4," he said. Asked about the forthcoming opening of the trial for the Ruby case-by child prostitution and abuse of power, and he said: "This is another process." Earlier in the morning show of Canale 5, one of the televisions of his media empire, a journalist friend, Maurizio Belpietro, editor of Libero, was interviewed by telephone to Berlusconi in which he could elaborate "I'm the man accused of the universe, "he said, while recalling the 24 processes undergone in the last 17 years, always resulting in acquittal or prescription of the alleged crime.
On the charges against him, dismissed as "baseless and ridiculous", because it is the umpteenth attempt to sink his career and the only way in which the Italian left to regain power and who is unable to win an election. "They are all absurd and processes built on nothing" Berlusconi added.
I swore several times by my five children and my six grandchildren that none of the facts on which the judiciary in Milan has built his allegations is true. " The facts of the case Mediatrade back to the first half of the nineties of last century. Prosecutors believe that when Berlusconi bought the television rights to broadcast American films, swelled the amount paid through various operations chained, made with shell companies based in tax havens.
It was the Italian tax smuggle substantial amounts of money. Berlusconi insisted yesterday that he never personally took charge of acquiring the television rights and that, since making the jump to politics in 1994, has been responsible for managing in companies he founded. Il Cavaliere took to charge against the Constitutional Court, the authority that deprived him of a legal shield to measure approved by Parliament.
According to Berlusconi, that decision was an "incredible statement" of a court "has decided that only in Italy a head of government can be brought to trial, distracting attention from his office and his public office." Berlusconi added that there are more than a thousand judges in recent years have dealt with their legal troubles.
Often recalls that he has been forced to spend over 300 million euros in lawyers. 
Since 2003, the head of the Italian Government had eluded justice appointments. Now stripped of political-legal shield that protected him, Berlusconi could not avoid the engagement, but continued to show defiance. During the hearing, said nothing. He did his attorneys. The Italian leader is simply to shake hands with the judges.
The procedure was quick. The next hearing will be April 4 and 2 and 30 May. On leaving the running board of his car and smiling Berlusconi greeted his supporters. "All right, I'm preparing for the April 4," he said. Asked about the forthcoming opening of the trial for the Ruby case-by child prostitution and abuse of power, and he said: "This is another process." Earlier in the morning show of Canale 5, one of the televisions of his media empire, a journalist friend, Maurizio Belpietro, editor of Libero, was interviewed by telephone to Berlusconi in which he could elaborate "I'm the man accused of the universe, "he said, while recalling the 24 processes undergone in the last 17 years, always resulting in acquittal or prescription of the alleged crime.
On the charges against him, dismissed as "baseless and ridiculous", because it is the umpteenth attempt to sink his career and the only way in which the Italian left to regain power and who is unable to win an election. "They are all absurd and processes built on nothing" Berlusconi added.
I swore several times by my five children and my six grandchildren that none of the facts on which the judiciary in Milan has built his allegations is true. " The facts of the case Mediatrade back to the first half of the nineties of last century. Prosecutors believe that when Berlusconi bought the television rights to broadcast American films, swelled the amount paid through various operations chained, made with shell companies based in tax havens.
It was the Italian tax smuggle substantial amounts of money. Berlusconi insisted yesterday that he never personally took charge of acquiring the television rights and that, since making the jump to politics in 1994, has been responsible for managing in companies he founded. Il Cavaliere took to charge against the Constitutional Court, the authority that deprived him of a legal shield to measure approved by Parliament.
According to Berlusconi, that decision was an "incredible statement" of a court "has decided that only in Italy a head of government can be brought to trial, distracting attention from his office and his public office." Berlusconi added that there are more than a thousand judges in recent years have dealt with their legal troubles.
Often recalls that he has been forced to spend over 300 million euros in lawyers.
- Berlusconi Denies Wrongdoing in Mediatrade Case (28/03/2011)
- Berlusconi Attends Milan Courthouse in Tax Case (28/03/2011)
- You: Italy's Berlusconi attends fraud case hearing (28/03/2011)
- Berlusconi: 'I Am The Most Accused Man In The Universe' (28/03/2011)
- Berlusconi Appears in Court - Wall Street Journal (28/03/2011)
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