17 November 2009 / REUTERS, MILAN
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a delay in the resumption of his trial on tax fraud to Jan. 18 because of pressing state business. Judges agreed on Monday to the expected request by Berlusconi’s lawyers for a postponement, saying there was “a legitimate impediment.”
The center-right leader, one of Italy’s wealthiest men, is presiding over the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s summit on world hunger in Rome. The trial is one of two that Berlusconi, 73, faces following a decision by Italy’s top court last month to lift his immunity from prosecution and let legal proceedings against him resume. Berlusconi is accused of tax fraud and false accounting in the management of his media companies. Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing. The charges stem from acquisition of TV rights by broadcaster Mediaset SpA, controlled by Berlusconi’s Fininvest SpA holding company. Prosecutors allege Mediaset bought the rights at an inflated price from two offshore companies controlled by the prime minister.
