Sentence confirmed, but the accessory penalty is canceled and sent back to the Milan Court of Appeal, which will have to re-determine the duration of the ban from holding public offices. This is the verdict handed down a few minutes ago by the Court of Cassation on the trial for Mediaset rights in relation to Silvio Berlusconi, who at the end of the first and second instance proceedings had been sentenced to four years' imprisonment and five years' disqualification for tax fraud. The deputy attorney general of the Cassation, Antonio Mura, had asked in his speech to reduce the years of interdiction from five to three.
The judges therefore recognized the Knight guilty, confirming the prison sentence, but judged the accessory penalty established at the end of the first two levels of judgment to be illegitimate. The sentences also confirmed for the other three defendants, the former managers of Mediaset Daniele Lorenzano and Gabriella Galetto and the film producer Frank Agrama.
The new appeal process to re-determine the interdiction to be imposed on Berlusconi will be celebrated in a different section from the one that has already expressed itself on the merits. The proceeding will take place in the autumn and against the decision it will be possible to appeal to the Supreme Court, so the Knight will remain a senator for several more months.
As for imprisonment, it is confirmed, but the former prime minister does not risk going to prison: three of the four years are condoned under the pardon passed in 2006 by the center-left government, while for the remaining year the defendant will be able to request reliance on social services. Alternatively, being over seventy, Berlusconi will be able to serve his sentence under house arrest.
The decision of the Cassation is final but not yet executive: in thirty days Berlusconi's sentence will arrive on the table of the Senate's Immunity Board, to then pass to the scrutiny of the House, which will vote by secret ballot to acknowledge the sentence .
Immediately after the reading of the sentence, a meeting of the general staff of the PDL was convened at Palazzo Grazioli. Among the first to arrive in via del Plebiscito, the two group leaders Renato Schifani and Renato Brunetta, the party coordinator Denis Verdini and Senator Altero Matteoli.
The trial concerned the sale of television and film rights with US companies for 470 million euros carried out by Mediaset through two offshore companies. The first and second degree proceedings - and now the Cassation - confirmed the prosecutors' accusations: the American majors sold the rights to the two off shore companies, which then resold them with a strong price increase to Mediaset to get around the Italian taxman and create slush funds available to Berlusconi. Cher was the director of the entire system.
NAPOLITANO: "MAESTRA STREET IS RESPECT OF THE JUDGES"
"The main road to follow has always been that of trust and respect for the judiciary, which is called to investigate and judge in full autonomy and independence in the light of constitutional principles and according to legal procedures". This was stated by the President of the Republic Giogio Napolitano, commenting in a note on the sentence of the Cassation on Silvio Berlusconi.
“On this occasion, around the Cassation trial for the Mediaset case and awaiting the sentence – underlined the head of state -, the atmosphere was more respectful and relaxed than on the occasion of other proceedings in which the Hon. Berlusconi. And I think that's been good for everyone."
EPIFANI: "NOW THE PDL AVOID INSTITUTIONAL FORCING"
"The Pd respects the separation of powers and asks the Pdl to respect the judiciary and not to override the institutions after a sentence that is based on ascertaining the facts and not on prejudices." Thus the secretary of the Democratic Party, Guglielmo Epifani, after the reading of the sentence against Silvio Berlusconi.
"The sentence of the Cassation must not only be respected but it must also be implemented and made applicable and our parliamentary groups will comply with this", he added.
