Article on Berlusconi

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Article on Berlusconi

I've found this article on one of the papers, is it true?

Silvio Berlusconi Hates Italy
September 2, 2011 By Alex Roe 2 Comments

Incredible, a Silvio Berlusconi is a prime minister who detests his own country. Well that’s the impression one gets from the transcript of a telephone conversation between Silvio Berlusconi and Valter Lavitola, a newspaper editor.

The full story has been covered by John Hooper writing for the Guardian: Berlusconi vows to leave ‘sh**ty’ Italy in conversation recorded by police (the article contains strong language – used by Italy’s prime minister) in connection with extortion investigations.

Not only does Italy’s prime minister say he despises his country, he also states he wants to leave. Maybe he’s planning to fly off to his villa in Antiqua.
Irony

The real irony of the comments made by Berlusconi arise from the fact that he has had a major hand in creating the country which he now apparently dislikes so intensely.

Perhaps if he had thought more carefully about what he was turning Italy into, or, more accurately, what he was perpetuating, he might not have ended up living in a country he hates.

Can any country put up with a prime minister, of all people, saying such things? What kind of example does it set?

Such comments give the impression that the drawing up of effective austerity measures for Italy is not much of a priority for Berlusconi – who wants to leave.
Constitutional Contravention

It could be argued that Silvio Berlusconi has demonstrated his disloyalty to Italy’s constitution, more specifically, Article 54 (2):

Article 54 [Loyalty to the Constitution]
(1) All citizens have the duty to be loyal to the republic and to observe the constitution and the laws.
(2) Citizens entrusted with public functions must perform them with discipline and honor, and take an oath of office where required by law.

Stating that your country is a detestable place is not exactly a good example of loyalty to one’s constitution, now is it?

One would hope and expect that the prime minister of a country would be one of the most loyal citizens a country can have.

Calls for Silvio Berlusconi to make good his vow to leave Italy may well flow.
One Way Ticket

Perhaps Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano might like to buy Silvio Berlusconi a one way ticket to Antigua and hand deliver it personally. Economy class – these are tough times in Italy.

As a matter of interest, there’s a one-way flight to Antigua leaving from Bergamo airport, close to Berlusconi’s home in Milan, at 11:10am today. Price: €3097 via Alitalia – Italy’s national carrier – and British Airways. I know, I checked on Skyscanner.it
The Camel’s Back

Will this be the final straw which breaks the camel’s back for Italians? Will Berlusconi be forced out? Knowing Italy, not necessarily, but that camel’s back must be getting mighty close to breaking point.

Berlusconi will laugh the incident off, no doubt. He was angry and was letting off steam, or he was merely joking. Some semi-plausible excuse will materialise.

Incidentally, as you will have noted from the Guardian article, a married couple allegedly involved in blackmailing Silvio Berlusconi was arrested yesterday – which tends to confirms suspicions that Italy’s prime minister’s bunga bunga lifestyle has left himself wide open to blackmail. Not good for national security.
 
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Will Berlusconi End up In Court?
February 10, 2011 By Alex Roe 2 Comments

The BBC has published a question and answer article on the very same question posed by the title of this post. The answer, as ever with Silvio Berlusconi, is a big ‘maybe’.

Here’s some more on the current state of Rubygate.

While prosecutors investigating the Rubygate affair have stated there is clear evidence to demonstrate Berlusconi is guilty of sleeping with an under age prostitute and that he abused his official powers in extracting Ruby from police custody after she had been accused of theft, there are plenty of other factors at play.
Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi

Prosecutors say that the claim used by Berlusconi to take Ruby away from police custody, namely that she was President of Egypt’s Mubarak’s niece, was no more than an invention. However, Ruby herself has stated she told Berlusconi she was indeed Hosni Mubarak’s niece, and if this can be demonstrated by Berlusconi’s defence team, then it can be argued that Berlusconi was acting in a diplomatic when he rang police and asked them to release Ruby. In this case, it will be difficult to prove Berlusconi was not acting in an official capacity. Berlusconi himself initially claimed he helped Ruby out of friendship, but did not make any references to the diplomatic aspects of the situation.

Fundamental to the success of the prosecutors’ case is the fact that Ruby, the Moroccan girl who alleged had sex with Berlusconi, was under age for a prostitute at the time. Berlusconi’s defence team have recently been saying they can prove Ruby was not under age.

Still, the fact that prosecutors have formally requested that Berlusconi be called for immediate trial without going through the usual process involving a preliminary hearing, suggests they do have a strong case.
Witnesses Upon Witnesses

Prosecutors may well call witnesses to show Ruby is a prostitute, however, one can be almost 100% certain that Berlusconi’s legal team will produce a whole string of witnesses to counter this claim. Transcripts of telephone call wiretaps may help support the case against Berlusconi, but the snippets of telephone conversations which have ended up in Italy’s press have tended to be rather vague, meaning that demonstrating Ruby is a) a prostitute b) slept with Berlusconi is not going to be easy. It is also going to be difficult to persuade Ruby to admit she had sex with Berlusconi, and Berlusconi himself is denying this too.

Substantial payments do appear to have been made to Ruby. The question is: Why did Berlusconi give money to Ruby? Possible answers are:

Berlusconi paid Ruby for sex
Berlusconi gave money to Ruby because he felt sorry for her and wanted to give her a helping hand
Berlusconi paid money to Ruby to buy her silence
Berlusconi is being blackmailed by Ruby

Berlusconi is Furious

Yesterday, after Milan prosecutors passed case documents to Rome for consideration, Berlusconi reacted strongly claiming he was prepared to bring a case against the state – effectively suing his own people, though on what grounds is not known, and reiterated his constant claims that Italy’s judiciary is both subversive, politically motivated and determined to bring him down, as if Italy’s judiciary had a personal vendetta against Berlusconi.

There is also an indication coming through that Berlusconi might take the case to the European Court of Human Rights: Official: Berlusconi may appeal to European court in sex case – this would be an interesting turn of events!
War

Berlusconi ally, Umberto Bossi stated that Italy’s parliament and its judiciary is now in a state of total war.
The Judiciary Defends Itself

Today, in an article in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, Italy’s constitutional court indirectly defended itself against Berlusconi’s accusations stating that it has always been 100% impartial and will continue to be so.
Berlusconi in Court? But which Court?

There is a question mark over which court will hear the case, and even whether the case will actually end up in any court. In the next five days, a decision will be taken on whether there is strong enough evidence for the case to be heard in a court. The decision being formulated in Rome will also determine in which court. Either a ‘normal’ court, or a ‘special’ court which deals with public officials who have allegedly abused their powers.

In the second scenario – that the case should be heard by the special court, the question of whether or not Berlusconi should be put on trial will be put to a vote in Italy’s lower house. Berlusconi still has a majority in Italy’s lower house and recent votes have shown that he can count on his supporters to vote in his favour. If the Rubygate case is put to a vote, as pointed out in the BBC’s Q&A article, Berlusconi may well win and the Rubygate affair will be consigned to the bin.

If the matter does go to the vote and Berlusconi does win, the victory might be pyrrhic, in that Berlusconi, who has already been accused of using Italy’s parliament to his own personal ends, will once again come across as having used political weight to deal with his personal troubles. This, in the event of general elections, may lead to fewer people voting for him. Maybe.
What do Italians Think?

As to the opinion of Italians of the Rubygate affair, some of those I have spoken to think the whole thing is a fuss about nothing and what Berlusconi does behind closed doors is his business. On the other hand, there are Italians, possibly more women than men, who think Berlusconi really should resign.

Other Italians are concerned that Berlusconi has blackened Italy’s image in the eyes of the world, and this is serious enough for him to go.

There is also a feeling amongst Italians that since he has been in power, Italy has not changed for the better, despite Berlusconi’s continued claims to the contrary.

Whether Berlusconi will end up in court, or will go or not, largely depends on what comes out of Rome at some time in the next few days.
 
carlo314

carlo314

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Esperto scacchi Moderatore dell'anno 15 anni
It's true he said that

It's highly likely he will end up in court

It's extremely unlikely he will be found guiltuy of anything. If his party wins the nex elections, well, they'll cover up everything. End if the left wins, they'll do just the same: after all, sending former high ranking, corrupt politicians in jail is not a precedent anyone is impatient to set (in Parliament, at least :D)
 
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