Berlusconi Is Ousted From Italian Senate Over Tax Fraud Conviction
Having spent months manufacturing procedural delays or conjuring political melodrama, Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday could no longer stave off the inevitable: Italy’s senate stripped him of his parliamentary seat, a dramatic and humiliating expulsion, even as other troubles loom on his horizon.
Mr. Berlusconi, 77, the once-powerful former prime minister, is now staring at a cascade of stubborn realities. His removal from the senate means he is without elective office for the first time in roughly two decades and that he has lost the special immunities awarded to lawmakers. With other legal cases underway against him – and the possibility that new litigation could be filed – Mr. Berlusconi is now far more vulnerable than when, as prime minister, he seemed virtually untouchable, batting away sex and corruption scandals. A billionaire media mogul, he has been deeply concerned about the impact of his legal problems on his business interests.
He also is expected to soon start performing one year of community service for the tax fraud conviction that is the basis of his removal from the senate.
Moreover, a court in Milan has ruled that Mr. Berlusconi cannot seek any public office for the next two years. For a man who once dominated Italy with a ribald swagger, Mr. Berlusconi is suddenly a sharply reduced figure, having recently watched several longtime lieutenants break away from him.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/world/europe/berlusconi-expelled-from-senate-in-italy.html?emc=edit_na_20131127
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