His resumed prosecution will nevertheless be an embarrassment, coming at a time when his government is leading a campaign against tax dodgers and offering an amnesty to Italians who have salted money abroad to avoid tax.
The judges’ decision could also mean Berlusconi is again put on trial for allegedly bribing the British lawyer David Mills, the husband of the UK government minister Tessa Jowell. Mills is due to launch an appeal today against a four-and-a-half year jail sentence for accepting US$600,000 in return for skewing his testimony in two cases in which Berlusconi was a defendant in the 1990s.
The prime minister was scratched from the trial because of the immunity law, but the court ruled in May that he had given the bribe. Since the case against him would have to be started again, however, it is highly likely to be “timed out” by a statute of limitations before the judges have a chance to reach a verdict.
A more important consequence of yesterday’s decision will be to give a new relevance to two investigations in which Berlusconi is a suspect. In one, where charges are thought unlikely to be laid, allegations are being investigated that he “bought” two MPs with the aim of bringing down Italy’s last center-left government. In the second investigation, he is accused of embezzlement and tax evasion in both Italy and the US, and that case is thought likely to proceed.
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