Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi, standing trial on charges of bribing judges in the 1980s, has said he will not resign even if he is convicted.
|
|
Mr Silvio Berlusconi
|
"I have about as much chance of being convicted as I have of becoming a communist," Mr Berlusconi told today's edition of the French weekly
Le Point
. "And even if I were to be convicted, I would not resign. One should never resign," he said.
Mr Berlusconi and his friend and political ally Mr Cesare Previti, who was a minister in his first government in 1994, are being tried on accusations of bribing judges to win control of the state-owned food company SME.
The SME case is in its first trial and Mr Berlusconi could appeal if he is convicted. It is one of four cases pending against Mr Berlusconi, who has previously been tried on charges ranging from tax evasion to corruption. Any convictions have always been overturned on appeal.
In the SME case, which began in 1986, Mr Berlusconi has always denied any wrongdoing. He has also accused judges of pursuing a political vendetta against him.
Mr Berlusconi, who heads a conservative coalition, won election in May last year and took office in June. Since then, his government has passed several pieces of legislation that critics say were designed to help Mr Berlusconi escape certain charges pending against him.
One law effectively decriminalises false book-keeping. Another introduced measures making it much more difficult for authorities in other countries, specifically Switzerland, to pursue investigations in Italy.
The charges in the SME case rely heavily on financial evidence obtained from Switzerland.