Berlusconi ordered to appear in court
Source: Agencies |
March 2, 2010, Tuesday
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A MILAN court rejected a request by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi not to appear yesterday in a trial over tax fraud and false accounting, allowing the hearing to go ahead.
It was the first time the court had ruled the 73-year-old media mogul could not use official commitments as a reason not to attend when the trial resumed and thus delay it.
Berlusconi had argued he could not appear because of a cabinet meeting. He has been embroiled for years in court cases and criticized judges on Friday, saying he was the victim of magistrates acting like a "band of Talibans."
The prime minister's lawyers failed to show the cabinet meeting could not be delayed, the court said. It said the meeting had been scheduled after a date for the hearing was set.
The trial involves acquisition of television rights by the broadcaster Mediaset SpA, controlled by the Berlusconi family. Prosecutors allege Mediaset paid an inflated price of 470 million euros (US$638.6 million) to buy the rights from two offshore firms controlled by Berlusconi.
In another corruption case involving the prime minister, a Milan court on Saturday rejected a request from his lawyers to suspend a trial against him. It adjourned proceedings to March 26.
In that case, Berlusconi is accused of bribing British lawyer David Mills to withhold incriminating details of his business dealings. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
It was the first time the court had ruled the 73-year-old media mogul could not use official commitments as a reason not to attend when the trial resumed and thus delay it.
Berlusconi had argued he could not appear because of a cabinet meeting. He has been embroiled for years in court cases and criticized judges on Friday, saying he was the victim of magistrates acting like a "band of Talibans."
The prime minister's lawyers failed to show the cabinet meeting could not be delayed, the court said. It said the meeting had been scheduled after a date for the hearing was set.
The trial involves acquisition of television rights by the broadcaster Mediaset SpA, controlled by the Berlusconi family. Prosecutors allege Mediaset paid an inflated price of 470 million euros (US$638.6 million) to buy the rights from two offshore firms controlled by Berlusconi.
In another corruption case involving the prime minister, a Milan court on Saturday rejected a request from his lawyers to suspend a trial against him. It adjourned proceedings to March 26.
In that case, Berlusconi is accused of bribing British lawyer David Mills to withhold incriminating details of his business dealings. Both have denied any wrongdoing.
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