Italian court to resume Berlusconi Mediaset trial

The trial of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for tax evasion linked to his Mediaset empire will resume on February 28, after a temporary immunity law was modified this month, sources said yesterday.

The Mediaset trial in Milan was put on hold in April pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court on a law that granted Berlusconi and his ministers temporary legal immunity for a maximum of 18 months.

But on January 13 Italy’s top court opened the way for corruption trials involving Mr Berlusconi to resume after modifying the law so that judges decide on a case-by-case basis if the Italian leader should appear in court proceedings.

Mr Berlusconi can still avoid coming before Milan’s judges on grounds of legitimate impediment, if the trial date should clash with a state visit, a foreign visit or a meeting of Italy’s council of ministers.

Mediaset was founded by Mr Berlusconi in the 1970s and includes Italy’s three main privately-owned national television channels. Mr Berlusconi’s son Piersilvio, deputy chairman of Mediaset, and other senior managers are also under investigation.

The trial is based on allegations that Mediaset artificially inflated the price of film rights sold to companies that belonged to Berlusconi and then sold back to Mediaset, allowing the company to reduce its revenues and pay less tax.

The charge is punishable by between 18 months and six years in prison.

A self-made billionaire, Mr Berlusconi has faced charges including corruption, tax fraud, false accounting and illegally financing political parties.

Although some initial judgments have gone against him he has never been definitively convicted.

In a second trial suspended under the temporary immunity law, Mr Berlusconi is alleged to have bribed his former tax lawyer David Mills – a witness in another trial against the Prime Minister.