(Vatican Radio) Lawyers for Silvio Berlusconi asked the supreme court on Wednesday
to throw out a tax fraud conviction against the former Italian prime minister.
Berlusconi
and three others were convicted in October of tax fraud in the purchase of TV rights
for his Mediaset network. The former prime minister was sentenced to four years with
a five-year ban on public office. If confirmed by the Court of Cassation, Italy's
highest court, Berlusconi would lose his Senate seat and be banned from running in
elections.
Berlusconi made his final appeal before a judge on Tuesday against
the sentence.
“The consequences, particularly of a conviction, and possibly
even of an acquittal . . . would put immense pressure on the Italian government, because
parts of Berlusconi’s party have already said very clearly that they will bring the
government down, they would walk out, they would resign as members of parliament,”
says James Walston, head of the department of international relations at the
American University in Rome.
He explained: “Whatever happens, there will be
a very strong reaction. If the conviction is confirmed, it will be a serious shock
for Berlusconi, because he has never been convicted at the top level . . . And this
would be the first time that the Supreme Court has confirmed a criminal case against
a former prime minister and leader of a party which is supporting the government.
So it would be a major crisis.”
Listen to Ann Schneible’s full interview
with James Walston: