| Trials Involving Silvio Berlusconi |
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COMPLETED PROCESSES False testimony on Propaganda 2 In 1990 Berlusconi was declared guilty of Perjury by the appeal court of Venice for false Testimony on his affiliation to the freemason lodge "Propaganda 2", commonly known as "P2"; however the court did not proceed to a punishment sentence because the crime had been extinguished by the 1989 Amnesty . This is the only guilty verdict he has suffered so far. Bribing a member of the Financial Police ( Corruption ) First Court: sentenced to jail (2 years and 9 months) for four bribes. Appeal court: the Statute Of Limitations expired for three of the charges, an Acquittal was given on the fourth with dubitative formula. All Iberian 1 (illegally financing a political party) First Court: sentenced to jail (2 years and 4 months) for paying 21 billion lire (about 10 million Euro) to Bettino Craxi via an offshore bank account codenamed "All Iberian". Appeal Court: the Statute Of Limitations expired before the appeal was completed so Silvio Berlusconi was Acquitted . Medusa Cinema (false accounting) First Court: sentenced to jail (16 months) for false accounting of 10 billion Lire (about 5 million Euro) in some of Silvio Berlusconi's bank accounts. Appeal Court: Acquitted on the charge with dubitative formula ( Not Proven ) . Lodo Mondadori (corrupting a judge) Appeal Court: Statute Of Limitations expired before the appeal was completed so Silvio Berlusconi was Acquitted . All Iberian 2 (false accounting) First Court: Berlusconi was acquitted on September 26 , 2005 because the new law on false accounting makes false accounting illegal only if there is a specific damaged party reporting the fact to the authorities {Link without Title} . This new law was passed by Berlusconi's coalition after the beginning of the trial, and was claimed by the opposition to be an ''ad personam'' law, i.e. aimed at acquitting Berlusconi. TRIALS STILL RUNNING (SEPTEMBER 2004) Macherio estates (embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting) First Court: Acquitted for embezzlement and tax fraud, the Statute Of Limitations expired before a verdict was reached on the two cases of false accounting. Appeal Court: Acquitted for embezzlement, tax fraud and the first case of false accounting; Statute Of Limitations expired for the second. Lentini affair (false accounting) Allegation: 5 millions Euro paid secretly to Torino football club for buying the player Luigi Lentini. First court: The Statute Of Limitations expired for the charge. Appeal court: still running. Fininvest media group consolidated (false accounting) Allegation: 750 million Euro of illegal (black) funds stored by Fininvest in 64 offshore companies. The Statute Of Limitations expired due to the new laws on false accounting recently approved by Berlusconi's government. SME-Ariosto (corrupting a judge) At its outset, the trial SME-Ariosto involved both Cesare Previti and Silvio Berlusconi. Subsequently the Italian government approved a new law, the so called "Lodo Maccanico" (also known as "Lodo Schifani"). This law gives Immunity to the five highest officers of the state (premier, president of the Republic, Senate's president, Deputy Chamber's president, Constitutional Court's president). To avoid complete suspension of the trial, the Court of Milan split it into two parts, one regarding Cesare Previti , the other Silvio Berlusconi . The Cesare Previti part of the trial resulted in a guilty verdict. The other part (regarding Silvio Berlusconi) did not prove the Italian Prime Minister's innocence but the case had to close because of the Statute Of Limitations . Recently, the Constitutional Court declared that the "Lodo Maccanico" violates articles n. 3 and 34 of the Italian Constitution ( Sentence n. 120, 2004 ). SME-Ariosto (false accounting) Trial suspended: the European Court of Justice is examining the new Italian laws about social crimes (see trial on All Iberian 2 above). |
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