Italian inquiry slams Berlusconi prosecutors

An investigation into two Italian prosecutors who led a corruption trial against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi criticised them as "unworthy" of the trust a magistrate should enjoy, Italian media said yesterday.

A judicial source said the investigation found Ilda Boccassini and Gherardo Colombo guilty of withholding information from Justice Ministry inspectors who were examining their cases against Mr Berlusconi and his co-defendants.

"Boccassini and Colombo are unworthy of the trust and consideration a magistrate should enjoy... (and) compromised the prestige and credibility of the judiciary system," Italian daily Corriere della Sera quoted the inquiry's findings as saying.

The source declined to comment on the wording of the report, which was drawn up by investigators dispatched last year by the Justice Ministry. Magistrates in Milan complained at the time that the probe was politically motivated.

Italy's highest court would take the matter up with the two high-profile prosecutors, adding that disciplinary action might follow, the judicial source said.

Boccassini and Colombo led the prosecution in a case in which Mr Berlusconi was accused of bribing judges to win favourable rulings in a 1980s takeover battle - the most serious graft charges he has faced in almost a decade of legal battles.

Mr Berlusconi denies the charges and says he is the victim of a left-wing judicial witch hunt.

His trial came to a sudden halt last June when parliament rammed though a controversial law protecting Italy's top five officials from prosecution while in office.

Italy's Constitutional Court annulled the immunity law in January and the trial is due to restart next month.