A corruption trial against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resumed yesterday after a 10-month halt, but was thrown into immediate confusion when prosecutors suggested the chief judge might be biased.

The high-profile case was put on ice last June after parliament awarded Berlusconi immunity from prosecution during his time in office. Italy's highest tribunal later annulled the controversial law, unblocking proceedings.

The original panel of three judges stood down for legal reasons. Prosecution lawyers yesterday complained that the new presiding judge, Francesco Castellano, had jeopardised his position by giving interviews to newspapers sympathetic to Berlusconi, and asked that he step down.

"The judge's impartiality is a cardinal principle of our democracy," chief prosecutor Ilda Boccassini told the court. "The fact he gave the interview was a serious interference with a case underway".

But the panel of judges, presided by Castellano himself, later rejected the prosecution's call after three hours of debate.

Berlusconi stands accused of bribing judges to prevent the 1980s sale of a state-owned food chain, called SME, to a rival businessman. He denies the charges.

In a 2002 interview with Il Giornale newspaper, which is owned by the prime minister's brother, Castellano said that Berlusconi's trial was not "normal".

He also said that anti-graft magistrates in Italy's financial capital had focused much of their attention in recent years on the prime minister's business interests. Berlusconi has repeatedly accused magistrates of leading a politically- motivated witch hunt against him.

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