ROME: Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi yesterday requested a review of his tax fraud trial ahead of a vote this week that will likely force him from parliament for the first time in 20 years and make him vulnerable to arrest.
The three-time former prime minister and billionaire tycoon warned fellow senators against voting for his expulsion, saying such a decision “would shame you in front of your children, your voters and all Italians”.
Berlusconi said holding the vote before a review of his conviction would be an “indelible stain” for the parliament and said the parliamentarians should bear in mind the vote was “not about me but about democracy”.
“You would expel from parliament a political leader who has been prime minister several times and who has represented Italy on the international stage,” the 77-year-old, who appeared determined but measured, said at a press conference in Rome.
Berlusconi said he had obtained new testimonies from the United States that questioned his conviction from the supreme court in August in a case over the purchase of film distribution rights by his company, Mediaset.
“These documents will allow us to make a request for a review at the appeals court,” Berlusconi said, adding that they “completely undermine the basis” of the case. The Italian Senate is expected to hold a vote tomorrow for Berlusconi’s expulsion.
AFP
