Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud, confirmed late yesterday by Italy’s highest court, increased tensions in parliament and threatened to undermine Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s government.
The ruling against the three-time former premier deepened the divide within the ruling coalition between lawmakers loyal to Berlusconi, 76, and those who have traditionally opposed him. While the conviction was upheld, Berlusconi’s penalty has yet to be clarified as his prison sentence will probably be converted to house arrest or community service. A ban on holding public office was ordered to be reviewed by a lower court.
The verdict will make it more difficult for Letta to keep his alliance together. Members of Berlusconi’s party had threatened to bring down the government if the tax-fraud conviction were confirmed, while some lawmakers in Letta’s Democratic Party, or PD, have objected to collaborating with Berlusconi as his legal troubles grow.
“The government didn’t get killed, but it was wounded,” said Francesco Galietti, founder of Rome-based research firm Policy Sonar. “This sentence is initiating a civil war within the PD, something that has been in the cards for a while but is now clearly erupting.”
Berlusconi’s three defense lawyers, Franco Coppi, Niccolo Ghedini and Piero Longo, said in a statement they would “take every useful initiative, even at the European level, so that this unjust sentence is radically changed.” The conviction is linked to tax evasion in the purchase of U.S. film rights for his Mediaset SpA. (MS)
[h=2]Berlusconi’s Appeals[/h]The former premier is also appealing convictions in separate cases on paying a minor for sex and illegal wiretapping. He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations part of an attempt by prosecutors to destroy his political career.
Italy’s 10-year bond yield fell 4 basis points to close at 4.36 percent yesterday. The yield has risen about 60 basis points, or 0.6 percent, from a 2 1/2-year low on May 2 after Letta enlisted Berlusconi’s support and stitched together a three-party parliamentary majority.
Letta, 46, must now mollify lawmakers from Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party, or PDL, while making sure his own PD members remain committed. The premier said in a statement that court rulings should be respected and “individual interests should be subordinated to the national good.”
[h=2]Political Fallout[/h]The PDL will continue to support the government, Nitto Palma, a member of the party in the Senate, said in a statement. Still, Cabinet Undersecretary Michaela Biancofiore, a member of the PDL, will resign to protest the verdict, Ansa reported. Giusppe Civati, a PD lawmaker, said in a message he was looking for an “exit strategy, honorable and responible, but we can’t go on like this to infinity.”
Berlusconi had three stints as premier as he dominated Italian politics over the last 20 years. His electorate, which fell to about a quarter of voters in elections in February, is drawn to Berlusconi for his promises to cut taxes and the charisma with which he puts down adversaries and revels in the spotlight. Berlusconi, whose estimated fortune of $7.4 billion places him 166th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, built his wealth through real estate, finance and media investments.
The court found that Mediaset evaded 7.3 million euros ($9.6 million) of taxes in 2002-2003, while the company. over the same period, paid 567 million euros in taxes, the PDL said in a statement last month.
[h=2]First Appeal[/h]The five-judge panel yesterday sent the five-year ban from holding public office, imposed by a trial court in the original conviction in October, back to a lower court for review. That followed the request of Berlusconi’s prosecutor, who said on July 31 that the lower court erred and the ban should be just three years.
Berlusconi probably won’t be incarcerated for this case, according to Andrea Castaldo, a criminal lawyer and professor at the University of Salerno. The four-year prison sentence may be reduced to one year due to a law against prison overcrowding. His penalty will be probably be revised into community service or house arrest, due to extenuations including the leniency accorded to criminals over the age of 70.
The charges in the Mediaset case stem from before Berlusconi entered politics. He said in a May 23 statement that he never had offshore accounts and he didn’t know about alleged bribes to a few “unfaithful” Mediaset managers, otherwise he would have stopped them. He said his “absolute innocence” will be proved.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at [email protected]; Chiara Vasarri in Rome at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]
Enlarge image
[h=3]Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi[/h]
Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greets his supporters in Milan, on July 1, 2013.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greets his supporters in Milan, on July 1, 2013. Photographer: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
The ruling against the three-time former premier deepened the divide within the ruling coalition between lawmakers loyal to Berlusconi, 76, and those who have traditionally opposed him. While the conviction was upheld, Berlusconi’s penalty has yet to be clarified as his prison sentence will probably be converted to house arrest or community service. A ban on holding public office was ordered to be reviewed by a lower court.
The verdict will make it more difficult for Letta to keep his alliance together. Members of Berlusconi’s party had threatened to bring down the government if the tax-fraud conviction were confirmed, while some lawmakers in Letta’s Democratic Party, or PD, have objected to collaborating with Berlusconi as his legal troubles grow.
“The government didn’t get killed, but it was wounded,” said Francesco Galietti, founder of Rome-based research firm Policy Sonar. “This sentence is initiating a civil war within the PD, something that has been in the cards for a while but is now clearly erupting.”
Berlusconi’s three defense lawyers, Franco Coppi, Niccolo Ghedini and Piero Longo, said in a statement they would “take every useful initiative, even at the European level, so that this unjust sentence is radically changed.” The conviction is linked to tax evasion in the purchase of U.S. film rights for his Mediaset SpA. (MS)
[h=2]Berlusconi’s Appeals[/h]The former premier is also appealing convictions in separate cases on paying a minor for sex and illegal wiretapping. He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations part of an attempt by prosecutors to destroy his political career.
Italy’s 10-year bond yield fell 4 basis points to close at 4.36 percent yesterday. The yield has risen about 60 basis points, or 0.6 percent, from a 2 1/2-year low on May 2 after Letta enlisted Berlusconi’s support and stitched together a three-party parliamentary majority.
Letta, 46, must now mollify lawmakers from Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party, or PDL, while making sure his own PD members remain committed. The premier said in a statement that court rulings should be respected and “individual interests should be subordinated to the national good.”
[h=2]Political Fallout[/h]The PDL will continue to support the government, Nitto Palma, a member of the party in the Senate, said in a statement. Still, Cabinet Undersecretary Michaela Biancofiore, a member of the PDL, will resign to protest the verdict, Ansa reported. Giusppe Civati, a PD lawmaker, said in a message he was looking for an “exit strategy, honorable and responible, but we can’t go on like this to infinity.”
Berlusconi had three stints as premier as he dominated Italian politics over the last 20 years. His electorate, which fell to about a quarter of voters in elections in February, is drawn to Berlusconi for his promises to cut taxes and the charisma with which he puts down adversaries and revels in the spotlight. Berlusconi, whose estimated fortune of $7.4 billion places him 166th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, built his wealth through real estate, finance and media investments.
The court found that Mediaset evaded 7.3 million euros ($9.6 million) of taxes in 2002-2003, while the company. over the same period, paid 567 million euros in taxes, the PDL said in a statement last month.
[h=2]First Appeal[/h]The five-judge panel yesterday sent the five-year ban from holding public office, imposed by a trial court in the original conviction in October, back to a lower court for review. That followed the request of Berlusconi’s prosecutor, who said on July 31 that the lower court erred and the ban should be just three years.
Berlusconi probably won’t be incarcerated for this case, according to Andrea Castaldo, a criminal lawyer and professor at the University of Salerno. The four-year prison sentence may be reduced to one year due to a law against prison overcrowding. His penalty will be probably be revised into community service or house arrest, due to extenuations including the leniency accorded to criminals over the age of 70.
The charges in the Mediaset case stem from before Berlusconi entered politics. He said in a May 23 statement that he never had offshore accounts and he didn’t know about alleged bribes to a few “unfaithful” Mediaset managers, otherwise he would have stopped them. He said his “absolute innocence” will be proved.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at [email protected]; Chiara Vasarri in Rome at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected]
Enlarge image
[h=3]Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi[/h]
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greets his supporters in Milan, on July 1, 2013.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greets his supporters in Milan, on July 1, 2013. Photographer: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images