‘Viva Berlusconi’? Not So Much
Italy's colorful prime minister is in a heap of legal trouble now that the country's high court has stripped him of immunity. Despite facing charges of corruption, bribery, tax evasion and fraud, Silvio Berlusconi stayed in character, saying, "The trials against me are a farce. Viva Italia and Viva Berlusconi!"
Italy’s colorful prime minister is in a heap of legal trouble now that the country’s high court has stripped him of immunity. Despite facing charges of corruption, bribery, tax evasion and fraud, Silvio Berlusconi stayed in character, saying, “The trials against me are a farce. Viva Italia and Viva Berlusconi!”
Among many charges, Berlusconi is accused of bribing senators to help oust his predecessor. He also is said to have promised showgirls a place in the European Parliament, which technically isn’t the worst idea he ever had. — PS
Your support matters…Times:
The opposition called on Mr Berlusconi to step down as Prime Minister immediately, but, speaking in front of his palace in Rome last night, he vowed to carry on.
“The Constitutional Court is a political organ. The trials against me are a farce. Viva Italia and Viva Berlusconi!” he said with a clenched fist. He added that the court, the head of state and the media all favoured the Left.
“I will go on. We must govern for five years, with or without the law. I never believed because with a Constitutional Court with 11 Left-wing judges, it was impossible that it would be approved.”
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