|
Prosecutors seek indictment for Berlusconi
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-10 22:05
Prosecutors in Milan said Friday they have requested that Italian Premier
Silvio Berlusconi be indicted on charges of corruption.
The premier is accused of ordering at least $600,000 paid to British lawyer
David Mills 锟斤拷 whose indictment also was being sought 锟斤拷 in 1997 in exchange for
the lawyer's false testimony in two trials against Berlusconi. Both men deny the
allegations.
Berlusconi's lawyer did not immediately return calls to his cell phone.
Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale has said Mills, who is married and formally
separated from British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, is accused of giving
false testimony in two hearings, in 1997 and 1998.
Prosecutors have declined to release details, but according to news reports,
Mills is accused of failing to mention a 1995 phone call with Berlusconi in
which the two discussed alleged illicit payments from Berlusconi to former
Socialist Premier Bettino Craxi.
He also is accused of failing to tell a court that two offshore companies
involved in buying U.S. film rights were linked to Berlusconi.
The accusations surrounding Mills' testimony stem from a separate case in
which Berlusconi, Mill and 12 others are accused of tax fraud and embezzlement
over the purchase of U.S. movie rights by Mediaset SPA, Berlusconi's media
empire. All the defendants deny wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have said they had rushed to complete the probe and to try to
bring the case to trial after Parliament passed a reform, backed by Berlusconi's
government, which reduced the statute of limitations on the charges.
The conservative premier has repeatedly accused Milan prosecutors of waging a
political vendetta against him following years of probes and prosecution against
him. He claims they sympathize with the left.
The prosecutors' request for an indictment comes a month before Italy's
general election, in which Berlusconi is running against the center-left
opposition, led by Romano Prodi, who is slightly ahead in the
polls.
|
