Friend of Bush faces 8 years jail

[MIKE BURN]

Too funny... Mr. Bush's 2nd. biggest ally in Europe after Blair faces 8 years.... *ring, ring* "Nice company"

Quote:

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Judges urged to jail Berlusconi



(BBC/London) Friday, 12 November, 2004, 18:30 GMT



A prosecutor has urged a court in the Italian city of Milan to sentence Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to eight years in jail for alleged corruption.



Mr Berlusconi is accused of bribing judges in the 1980s - years before he entered politics - to prevent an acquisition by a business rival.





(Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi)





'Judges on payroll'



The trial was suspended in June last year after parliament passed a law granting the prime minister immunity, but this was later thrown out by the Constitutional Court and the trial resumed in April.



Prosecutors allege that from the mid-1980s Mr Berlusconi made payments to judges to prevent a rival, Carlo de Benedetti, from buying the state's stake in food giant, SME.



They allege Mr Berlusconi paid the money to a lawyer in his Fininvest holding company, Cesare Previti, who then paid the money to judges Renato Squillante and Filippo Verde.



Fininvest "had the judges on their payroll... so that they served the interests of Berlusconi", said prosecutor Ilda Boccassini.



Squillante was convicted of corruption last year and sentenced to eight years in jail - the maximum term faced by Mr Berlusconi if convicted.

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[antman37]

yes there is much corruption amongst the corporate puppet politicians who rule the west



at least as much as there was in the soviet union