Berlusconi between Strasbourg, Cartabia, Sallusti and Ghisleri
What's new for Silvio Berlusconi?
If not in Berlin, re-reading Bertolt Brecht, Silvio Berlusconi found a judge in Strasbourg by reading more modestly today in the Corriere della Sera Giovanni Bianconi. Which refers to the decision taken, albeit with great convenience, by the European Court of Human Rights not to deem unfounded the appeal presented in 2014 by the defenders of the former Prime Minister against the final sentence for tax fraud. Which had gotten him the year before the practice of social services, substituting three years of imprisonment, and forfeiture as a senator, not to mention the political implications. They were the split of the PDL in the government of Enrico Letta, the weakening of the majority painstakingly formed at the beginning of the legislature and in 2014 the crisis triggered by the new secretary of the PD Matteo Renzi. What, moreover, happening to Letta did not feel any embarrassment to agree with the "prejudiced", fallen Berlusconi and so on a path of even constitutional and electoral reforms.
In removing the dust from the judicial file of 2014, as a demonstration – some magistrates opposed to the reform of the criminal trial will say – that the times of justice are not too long only in Italy, the Strasbourg Court asked the Italian government to respond by 15 September to ten questions to clarify whether Berlusconi had a truly fair trial more than seven years ago, with respect for all the rights of his defense, and instead suffered no forcing or violations functional to his sentence. Among which, for example, the refusal of some testimonies, the failure to recognize the impediment to participate in some hearings which therefore had to be postponed, with effects on the statute of limitations, and more.
Finally, let's not forget that the credibility, let's say so, of the final sentence issued by a weekday section – that is, summer – of the Cassation, weighs a registered confession by the judge rapporteur, the late Amedeo Franco, of a decision taken practically by side.
It may be, for heaven's sake, that in mid-September the Draghi government and, more specifically, the Keeper of Seals Marta Cartabia answer the Court of Strasbourg differently from what Berlusconi's defenders expect, but it is equally significant, to say the least, that the Court doubts have arisen about the treatment reserved to the former Prime Minister, in the meantime "rehabilitated", elected to the European Parliament and participant in the government majority in Italy, preferred by the Democratic Party and perhaps even by the grillini to other partners such as Matteo Salvini .
Ironically, this "turning point", as the Corriere defined it referring to the judge found by the Knight in Strasbourg, was "punctured" – as they say in technical jargon – on the front page of the Family Journal on the day in which, taking leave of the management because attracted by other professional adventures, Alessandro Sallusti expressed the conviction that "sooner or later history will recognize Berlusconi the merits" that he deserves "in all fields" in which he ventured as "one of two or three extraordinary men that our century has given us ”. Which then would be two: the twentieth century and the 2000s, during which the only mistake made by Berlusconi, according to his trusted pollster Alessandra Ghisleri in an interview with Fatto Quotidiano , would be that of not having "defined a succession", so yes he considers unique in his "charisma".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/berlusconi-fra-strasburgo-cartabia-sallusti-e-ghisleri/ on Mon, 17 May 2021 07:16:25 +0000.