As Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday strove to shore up his position by declaring himself irreplaceable as Italy’s head of government, a court in Milan heard a request for the prime minister to be called as a witness in an appeal launched by his former legal adviser, British lawyer David Mills.
Mills is appealing a conviction for accepting a bribe from Berlusconi in the 1990s.
“I am — and not only in my own opinion — the best prime minister who could be found today,” he told a press conference. “I believe there is no one in history to whom I should feel inferior. Quite the opposite.”
The problem, he said, was that he was “absolutely the most persecuted person of all time, [and] indeed the entire world.”
His comments came as Laura Bertole, Milan’s chief prosecutor, was speaking at the opening session of Mills’ appeal.
Judges intend to reach their decision on the appeal before the end of this month — an alarming signal for the British lawyer, who faces the prospect of a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence and Berlusconi, who would be a co-defendant in the case now that he has been stripped of legal immunity.
Bertole said Mills had “first confessed, then retracted, indicating witnesses who have contradicted his words [and] his version of events.”
Mills, who was found guilty in February this year of accepting a US$600,000 bribe for distorting evidence in Berlusconi’s favor, acknowledged in a statement to prosecutors that he later retracted that the money came from his former client. The British lawyer subsequently identified a Neapolitan ship owner, Diego Attanasio, as the true source of the funds. Attanasio denies Mills’ claim.
Bertole asked the judges not to agree to two requests from Mills’ lawyer: to call Berlusconi as a witness and to gather evidence from Gibraltar.
Berlusconi’s counsel has said the prime minister would be available to testify if needed. Under Italian law, defendants are allowed up to two appeals that must be held before charges expire under a statute of limitations that, in this case, would come into effect next April.
A conviction of Mills would, by implication, mean Berlusconi was equally guilty of having bribed him.
On Wednesday, the constitutional court threw out a law introduced by Berlusconi’s government giving him immunity from prosecution.
After venting about those he held responsible for the decision, the prime minister yesterday turned his attention to suggestions that he might step down for the good of the country. Italy’s main opposition group, the Democratic party, has not called for Berlusconi’s resignation, but a smaller opposition party said he should go.
Irate at the constitutional court decision, Berlusconi has lashed out at perceived antagonists including Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, whom he blamed for not using his influence to sway the judges in his favor.
He also upset women, furious that he insulted a female opposition politician, Rosy Bindi, during a live TV discussion of the court’s decision. A Facebook site offering support to Bindi had attracted more than 7,000 adherents by last night.
A member of Berlusconi’s own Cabinet, the youth minister, Giorgia Meloni, disassociated herself from his comment that Bindi was “more beautiful than intelligent.” Meloni said: “I regret Berlusconi’s remark.”
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