Italy supreme court convenes to rule on Berlusconi case

PanARMENIAN.Net -

Italy's supreme court convenes on Tuesday, July 30 to rule whether Silvio Berlusconi should be jailed and banned from public office for tax fraud, a verdict that could endanger Italy's shaky coalition government. Reuters

The five judges of the Cassation Court - Italy's highest -will hear a final appeal by Berlusconi against a 1-year jail sentence and 5-year ban from office handed down by lower courts for the fraudulent purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset media empire. The court may take up to three days to deliver its ruling.

Berlusconi, 76, accuses leftwing magistrates of trying to bring him down in more than two dozen court cases since he stormed to power for the first time in 1994.

Berlusconi's lawyers have filed 50 objections to the supreme court, which will rule only on legal procedure and whether the previous appeal court properly justified its sentence.

The court has three choices: convict Berlusconi, acquit him or send the case back to the appeal court because of legal errors. It could also postpone a decision, probably until September - a move advocated by moderate politicians who want to avoid a summer crisis.

Even if Berlusconi is found guilty, his ban from public office depends on a vote by his peers in the Senate which could take weeks or months.

The scandal-plagued mogul is also appealing against a seven- year jail term handed down in June for abuse of office and paying for sex with Moroccan-born nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug alias "Ruby the Heartstealer" when she was underage.