Italian court throws out Berlusconi immunity

ROME, (Reuters) – Italy’s top court ruled yesterday  that a law granting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity  from prosecution violates the constitution, in a verdict that  will reopen trials against him and may undermine his government.  

The 73-year-old prime minister depicted it as a politically  motivated ruling by the Constitutional Court, five of whose 15  members are selected by the president, five by the judiciary and  five by parliament. 

“The Constitutional Court is a political organ, but we’ll  carry on. The trials against me are a farce … Viva Italia and  Viva Berlusconi!” he said with a clenched fist, adding that the  court, the head of state and the media all favoured the left.  

Analysts said the verdict was bound to weaken Berlusconi and  make tough economic policy decisions less likely as the third  largest economy in the euro zone struggles to recover from its  deepest recession since World War Two.  

“Italy is in bad need of reforms to get the economy going  and this makes those even less likely because Berlusconi will be  less inclined or able to focus on any reform effort,” said Tito  Boeri, an economist at Milan’s Bocconi University.  

Berlusconi’s attack on President Giorgio Napolitano sparked  what commentators said could turn into a dangerous clash.  
After Napolitano rejected Berlusconi’s charge that he was  partial to the left, Berlusconi angrily said, “I don’t care what  the head of state says, I feel like I am being made a fool of”.  

Berlusconi’s lawyers had warned that overturning the law  would leave the prime minister so entangled in the courts that  he would be unable to do his job properly.  

His centre-right allies have even threatened early elections  if what they call “concentric attacks” on Berlusconi over his  private life and business dealings continue, though the premier  vowed earlier this week to serve out his full term, until 2013.  
Italy’s business lobby was aghast at the idea of elections.  “In a moment of crisis like this we need to manage a difficult  situation and carry out reforms, and people would not understand  us holding elections,” said Confindustria’s Emma Marcegaglia.  

The Constitutional Court said the law passed last year soon  after Berlusconi returned for a third term in power violates the  principle that all citizens are equal before the law. It is also  invalid because it was passed as a normal law rather than a  constitutional reform, which is harder to approve, it said.  

This is the second time the highest court in the land has  thrown out Berlusconi’s attempts to have immunity from the cases  against him, after an earlier version was rejected in 2004.  

The immunity also covered the president and two speakers of  parliament but it was Berlusconi, who has faced corruption and  fraud accusations linked to his Mediaset broadcasting empire,  who had most at stake from losing it.  

The opposition celebrated the verdict, with the anti-graft  Italy of Values party saying: “Berlusconi would be well advised  to pack his bags and get a change of air”.  

The “Alfano Law”, one of Berlusconi’s first acts after  winning last year’s election, halted all the cases against him,  including one where he is accused of bribing British lawyer  David Mills to give false testimony to protect his businesses.  

Two other cases, one accusing him of tax fraud and false  accounting in the purchase of TV rights by Mediaset and another  alleging he tried to corrupt opposition senators, have also been  frozen. Berlusconi denies any wrongdoing.