The Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, yesterday denounced the "politicisation" of sections of the judiciary following a Milan court judgment on Tuesday in which his long-time ally and former private lawyer, Cesare Previti, received an 11-year sentence for corruption and bribery.
Previti (68), defence minister in Mr Berlusconi's short-lived 1994 government and currently a deputy for the Prime Minister's Forza Italia party, was found guilty in two separate cases, IMI-Sir and Lodo-Mondadori, that had been tried together.
In the second, the court ruled that Previti had bribed judges in order to obtain a favourable judgment on behalf of Mr Berlusconi's Fininvest holding company during a 1991 struggle for control of the Mondadori publishing house.
Mr Berlusconi himself was originally charged in the Lodo-Mondadori case, but was subsequently acquitted in 2000, thanks to Italy's statute of limitations.
During the three years of his trial, Previti issued seven legal challenges to the court in an apparent attempt to block the case, while last January he also sought unsuccessfully to have the case moved to Perugia under the terms of the controversial Cirami law. Opposition forces argued that the Cirami, which became law in November 2002, was tailor-made for Previti.
For much of the last decade, during which he has faced a variety of corruption, bribery and income-tax evasion charges, Mr Berlusconi has argued that he is the victim of a political witch-hunt, orchestrated by leftist magistrates. Recently the Prime Minister also suggested that his friend, Cesare Previti, had fallen victim to the same left-wing political persecution.
Mr Berlusconi said: "Yesterday's sentence only confirms the fact of this persecution, already made evident during the investigation, preliminary trial and the trial itself. The politicisation of a section of the judiciary, determined to condition our political life, is a problem that must be resolved for the good of the country, of its institutions and its citizens".
Speaking yesterday, Previti also reiterated his innocence, telling state TV that his trial had been "politicised" and adding: "I've never bribed anyone, nor has the court proved this. I have given full explanations for everything I was asked to explain"
His senior defence counsel, Mr Giorgio Perroni, who on Tuesday night had described the Milan verdict as "profoundly unjust", yesterday confirmed that he would appeal the sentence.
Needless to say, not everyone saw it the same way as Previti and his defence team. Mr Gerardo d'Ambrosio, a former state prosecutor in Milan, told the Rome daily, La Repubblica, yesterday: "The fact that this sentence has been handed down means that our democracy is alive and well and has resisted the attempt to block the wheels of justice, enabling VIP defendants to be exempted from the process. This sentence is proof that the famous saying, "The law is equal for everyone", is really true. The wheelings and dealings of those who wished for impunity have been defeated".