Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
Silvio was the first of three children; he had a sister, Maria Francesca Antonietta Berlusconi (1943–2009), and has a brother, Paolo Berlusconi (born 1949). After completing his secondary school education at a Salesian college, he studied law at the Università Statale in Milan, graduating (with honours) in 1961, with a thesis on the legal aspects of advertising.
In the late 1960s, he built Milano Due (Italian for "Milan Two"), a development of 4,000 residential apartments east of Milan.
Silvio was the first of three children; he had a sister, Maria Francesca Antonietta Berlusconi (1943–2009), and has a brother, Paolo Berlusconi (born 1949). After completing his secondary school education at a Salesian college, he studied law at the Università Statale in Milan, graduating (with honours) in 1961, with a thesis on the legal aspects of advertising.
The allegations made against him generally include suspicions about the extremely rapid increase of his activity in the construction industry in the years 1961–63, hinting at the possibility that in those years he received money from unknown and possibly illegal sources.
With the Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella, he wrote two Neapolitan song albums: Meglio 'na canzone in 2003 and L'ultimo amore in 2006. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969).
With the Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella, he wrote two Neapolitan song albums: Meglio 'na canzone in 2003 and L'ultimo amore in 2006. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969).
With the Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella, he wrote two Neapolitan song albums: Meglio 'na canzone in 2003 and L'ultimo amore in 2006. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969).
The works started in 1970, and were completed in 1979.
Distinctive landmarks are the sporting facilities, a small artificial lake and a children's playground. The profits from this venture provided the seed money for his advertising agency. === TeleMilano === Berlusconi first entered the media world in 1973, by setting up a small cable television company, TeleMilano, to service units built on his Segrate properties.
It was Berlusconi's friend Marcello Dell'Utri who introduced Mangano to Berlusconi in 1973.
TeleMilano was the first Italian private television channel, and later evolved into Canale 5, the first national private TV station. After buying two further channels, Berlusconi relocated the station to central Milan in 1977 and began broadcasting over the airwaves. === Fininvest === In 1978, Berlusconi founded his first media group, Fininvest, and joined the Propaganda Due masonic lodge.
TeleMilano was the first Italian private television channel, and later evolved into Canale 5, the first national private TV station. After buying two further channels, Berlusconi relocated the station to central Milan in 1977 and began broadcasting over the airwaves. === Fininvest === In 1978, Berlusconi founded his first media group, Fininvest, and joined the Propaganda Due masonic lodge.
The works started in 1970, and were completed in 1979.
By 1980, Berlusconi had established a relationship with the actress Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he subsequently had three children: Barbara (born 1984), Eleonora (born 1986) and Luigi (born 1988).
In 1980, Berlusconi founded Italy's first private national network, Canale 5, followed shortly thereafter by Italia 1, which was bought from the Rusconi family in 1982, and Rete 4, which was bought from Mondadori in 1984.
In 2010, Palermo's appeals court cut the sentence to seven years but fully confirmed Dell'Utri's role as a link between Berlusconi and the Mafia until 1992. In 1996, a Mafia informer, Salvatore Cancemi, declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Salvatore Riina, head of the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s.
Also frequently cited by opponents are events dating to the 1980s, including supposed "exchanges of favours" between Berlusconi and Bettino Craxi, the former Socialist prime minister and leader of the Italian Socialist Party convicted in 1994, for various corruption charges.
In 1980, Berlusconi founded Italy's first private national network, Canale 5, followed shortly thereafter by Italia 1, which was bought from the Rusconi family in 1982, and Rete 4, which was bought from Mondadori in 1984.
In the five years leading up to 1983 he earned some 113 billion Italian lire (€58.3 million).
By 1980, Berlusconi had established a relationship with the actress Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he subsequently had three children: Barbara (born 1984), Eleonora (born 1986) and Luigi (born 1988).
In 1980, Berlusconi founded Italy's first private national network, Canale 5, followed shortly thereafter by Italia 1, which was bought from the Rusconi family in 1982, and Rete 4, which was bought from Mondadori in 1984.
He was assisted by his connections to Bettino Craxi, secretary-general of the Italian Socialist Party and also prime minister of Italy at that time, whose government passed, on 20 October 1984, an emergency decree legalising the nationwide transmissions made by Berlusconi's television stations.
This was in response to judgements on 16 October 1984, in Turin, Pescara and Rome, enforcing a law which previously restricted nationwide broadcasting to RAI, that had ordered these private networks to cease transmitting. After political turmoil in 1985, the decree was approved definitively.
He was divorced from Dall'Oglio in 1985, and married Lario in 1990.
This was in response to judgements on 16 October 1984, in Turin, Pescara and Rome, enforcing a law which previously restricted nationwide broadcasting to RAI, that had ordered these private networks to cease transmitting. After political turmoil in 1985, the decree was approved definitively.
Milan from 1986 to 2017.
By 1980, Berlusconi had established a relationship with the actress Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he subsequently had three children: Barbara (born 1984), Eleonora (born 1986) and Luigi (born 1988).
He then launched three international sister networks: La Cinq (which began operations in 1986), Tele 5 (which launched in 1988), and Telecinco (which launched in 1989).
Milan from 1986 to 2017, and currently owns A.C.
By 1980, Berlusconi had established a relationship with the actress Veronica Lario (born Miriam Bartolini), with whom he subsequently had three children: Barbara (born 1984), Eleonora (born 1986) and Luigi (born 1988).
He then launched three international sister networks: La Cinq (which began operations in 1986), Tele 5 (which launched in 1988), and Telecinco (which launched in 1989).
He then launched three international sister networks: La Cinq (which began operations in 1986), Tele 5 (which launched in 1988), and Telecinco (which launched in 1989).
He was divorced from Dall'Oglio in 1985, and married Lario in 1990.
They were elevated to the status of full national TV channels in 1990, by the so-called Mammì law. In 1995, Berlusconi sold a portion of his media holdings, first to the German media group Kirch Group (now bankrupt) and then by public offer.
In 2010, Palermo's appeals court cut the sentence to seven years but fully confirmed Dell'Utri's role as a link between Berlusconi and the Mafia until 1992. In 1996, a Mafia informer, Salvatore Cancemi, declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Salvatore Riina, head of the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s.
Similarly, a two-year investigation, also launched on evidence from Cancemi, into Berlusconi's alleged association with the Mafia was closed in 1996. According to yet another Mafia turncoat, Antonino Giuffrè – arrested on 16 April 2002 – the Mafia turned to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to look after the Mafia's interests, after the decline in the early 1990s of the ruling Christian Democratic party, whose leaders in Sicily looked after the Mafia's interests in Rome.
La Cinq and Tele 5 ceased operations in 1992 and were later replaced by La Cinquième and DSF, respectively. Berlusconi created the first and only Italian commercial TV empire.
In 2010, Palermo's appeals court cut the sentence to seven years but fully confirmed Dell'Utri's role as a link between Berlusconi and the Mafia until 1992. In 1996, a Mafia informer, Salvatore Cancemi, declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Salvatore Riina, head of the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Mafia's fall out with the Christian Democrats became clear when Salvo Lima was killed in March 1992.
Provenzano stated that the Mafia's judicial problems would be resolved within 10 years of 1992, thanks to the undertakings given by Forza Italia. Giuffrè also said that Berlusconi himself used to be in touch with Stefano Bontade, a top Mafia boss, in the mid-1970s.
The Graviano brothers allegedly dealt directly with Berlusconi through the businessman Gianni Letta, somewhere between September/October 1993.
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013 and has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019, and previously from 1999 to 2001. Berlusconi is the controlling shareholder of Mediaset and owned the Italian football club A.C.
He was the leader of the centre-right party Forza Italia from 1994 to 2009, and its successor party The People of Freedom from 2009 to 2013.
Milan to Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux for a total of €830 million after a 31-year reign. == Political career == Berlusconi rapidly rose to the forefront of Italian politics in January 1994.
He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time and appointed as Prime Minister following the 1994 parliamentary elections, when Forza Italia gained a relative majority a mere three months after having been launched.
His leadership was also undermined by sex scandals. === Beginnings === Berlusconi's political career began in 1994, when he entered politics, reportedly admitting to Indro Montanelli and Enzo Biagi that he was forced to do so to avoid imprisonment.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
On 26 January 1994, Berlusconi announced his decision to enter politics, ("enter the field", in his own words) presenting his own political party, Forza Italia, on a platform focused on defeating the Communists.
Berlusconi became the first Western leader to visit Lukashenko since Lukashenko came to power in 1994.
In 2007, the court case at first-instance had not yet been launched, and the prosecutors dropped the (A) charges against Berlusconi due to the statute of limitations, and for the same reason the (B) charges were narrowed down to the 1994–98 period, in which the prosecutor charged Berlusconi for having committed a personal tax evasion of €7.3 million. On 26 October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of punishment by an Italian court for tax evasion.
In 2002, Luciano Violante, a prominent member of the Left, said in a speech in Parliament: "Honourable Anedda, I invite you to ask the honourable Berlusconi, because he certainly knows that he received a full guarantee in 1994, when the government changed—that TV stations would not be touched.
He knows it and the Honourable Letta knows it." The authors of the book Inciucio cite this sentence as evidence for the idea that the Left made a deal with Berlusconi in 1994, in which a promise was made not to honour a law in the Constitutional Court of Italy that would have required Berlusconi to give up one of his three TV channels to uphold pluralism and competition.
Spatuzza testified that his boss Giuseppe Graviano had told him in 1994, that Berlusconi was bargaining with the Mafia, concerning a political-electoral agreement between Cosa Nostra and Berlusconi's Forza Italia.
Also frequently cited by opponents are events dating to the 1980s, including supposed "exchanges of favours" between Berlusconi and Bettino Craxi, the former Socialist prime minister and leader of the Italian Socialist Party convicted in 1994, for various corruption charges.
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
They were elevated to the status of full national TV channels in 1990, by the so-called Mammì law. In 1995, Berlusconi sold a portion of his media holdings, first to the German media group Kirch Group (now bankrupt) and then by public offer.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
In the April 1996 snap parliamentary elections, Berlusconi was defeated by the centre-left candidate Romano Prodi.
In 1996, Berlusconi and his coalition lost the elections and were replaced by a centre-left government led by Romano Prodi. === 2001 electoral victory === In 2001, Berlusconi ran again, as leader of the right-wing coalition House of Freedoms (La Casa delle Libertà), which included the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, the Lega Nord, the National Alliance and other parties.
According to the authors, this would be an explanation of why the Left, despite having won the 1996 elections, did not pass a law to solve the conflicts of interest between media ownership and politics. Berlusconi's influence over RAI became evident when in Sofia, Bulgaria he expressed his views on journalists Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro, and comedian Daniele Luttazzi.
In 2010, Palermo's appeals court cut the sentence to seven years but fully confirmed Dell'Utri's role as a link between Berlusconi and the Mafia until 1992. In 1996, a Mafia informer, Salvatore Cancemi, declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Salvatore Riina, head of the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s.
Similarly, a two-year investigation, also launched on evidence from Cancemi, into Berlusconi's alleged association with the Mafia was closed in 1996. According to yet another Mafia turncoat, Antonino Giuffrè – arrested on 16 April 2002 – the Mafia turned to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to look after the Mafia's interests, after the decline in the early 1990s of the ruling Christian Democratic party, whose leaders in Sicily looked after the Mafia's interests in Rome.
In 1998, various articles attacking Berlusconi were published by Lega Nord's official newspaper La Padania, with titles such as "La Fininvest è nata da Cosa Nostra" – "Fininvest (Berlusconi's principal company) was founded by the Mafia". Berlusconi remained as caretaker prime minister for a little over a month, until his replacement by a technocratic government headed by Lamberto Dini.
He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013 and has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019, and previously from 1999 to 2001. Berlusconi is the controlling shareholder of Mediaset and owned the Italian football club A.C.
In 1999, Berlusconi expanded his media interests by forming a partnership with Kirch called the Epsilon MediaGroup. On 9 July 2011, a Milan court ordered Fininvest to pay 560 million euros in damages to Compagnie Industriali Riunite in a long-running legal dispute. On 5 August 2016, Fininvest announced the signing of a preliminary agreement to sell all of their shares of A.C.
Forza Italia's support was also reduced from 29.5% to 21.0% (in the 1999 European elections Forza Italia had 25.2%).
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013 and has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019, and previously from 1999 to 2001. Berlusconi is the controlling shareholder of Mediaset and owned the Italian football club A.C.
In the May 2001 parliamentary elections, he was again the centre-right candidate for Prime Minister and won against the centre-left candidate Francesco Rutelli.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
In 1996, Berlusconi and his coalition lost the elections and were replaced by a centre-left government led by Romano Prodi. === 2001 electoral victory === In 2001, Berlusconi ran again, as leader of the right-wing coalition House of Freedoms (La Casa delle Libertà), which included the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, the Lega Nord, the National Alliance and other parties.
This was considered to be a creative masterstroke in his 2001 bid for prime ministership.
According to Ricolfi, the other four promises were not honoured, in particular the undertakings on tax simplification and crime reduction. === Subsequent elections === The House of Freedoms did not do as well in the 2003 local elections as it did in the 2001 national elections.
Another feature of great importance is emphasis on a "liberal revolution", summarised by the "Contract with the Italians" of 2001.
He also added that Italy will probably be ranked last in the European Union in the upcoming edition of the RWB press freedom index. === The Economist === One of Berlusconi's strongest critics in the media outside Italy is the British weekly The Economist (nicknamed "The Ecommunist" by Berlusconi, despite the magazine's association with market liberalism), which in its issue of 26 April 2001 carried a title on its front cover, 'Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy'.
In 2013, he returned to calling Mussolini a good leader whose biggest mistake was signing up to exterminate the Jews. Berlusconi had made disparaging remarks about Finnish cuisine during negotiations to decide on the location of the European Food Safety Authority in 2001.
Origini e misteri delle fortune di Silvio Berlusconi (Elio Veltri and Marco Travaglio, 2001, Editori Riuniti, ). Berlusconi bankruptcy risks and legal investigation before entering politics: Mani pulite.
Retrieved 22 January 2005 "Berlusconi plans to get off the hook", The Observer, 7 October 2001.
In an article published in Italian media on 26 May 2002, he said that the next step in Russia's growing integration with the West should be EU membership.
In 2002, Luciano Violante, a prominent member of the Left, said in a speech in Parliament: "Honourable Anedda, I invite you to ask the honourable Berlusconi, because he certainly knows that he received a full guarantee in 1994, when the government changed—that TV stations would not be touched.
Similarly, a two-year investigation, also launched on evidence from Cancemi, into Berlusconi's alleged association with the Mafia was closed in 1996. According to yet another Mafia turncoat, Antonino Giuffrè – arrested on 16 April 2002 – the Mafia turned to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to look after the Mafia's interests, after the decline in the early 1990s of the ruling Christian Democratic party, whose leaders in Sicily looked after the Mafia's interests in Rome.
The alleged pact with the Mafia fell apart in 2002.
To limit illegal immigration, the Berlusconi's government promulgated the Bossi-Fini law in 2002.
Da Mario Chiesa a Silvio Berlusconi (Gianni Barbacetto, Peter Gomez and Marco Travaglio, 2002, Editori Riuniti, ) L'amico degli amici.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian Senate passes disputed bill", BBC News, 2 August 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi scores double victory", BBC News, 5 November 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian judges fight reforms", BBC News, 20 June 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 Q&A: "Berlusconi's battle with the courts", BBC News, 24 January 2002.
With the Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella, he wrote two Neapolitan song albums: Meglio 'na canzone in 2003 and L'ultimo amore in 2006. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969).
According to Ricolfi, the other four promises were not honoured, in particular the undertakings on tax simplification and crime reduction. === Subsequent elections === The House of Freedoms did not do as well in the 2003 local elections as it did in the 2001 national elections.
Italy, with Berlusconi in office, became a solid ally of the United States due to his support for the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War following the 2003 invasion of Iraq in the War on Terror.
On 30 January 2003, Berlusconi signed The letter of the eight supporting US.
In April 2004, the International Federation of Journalists joined the criticism, objecting to the passage of a law vetoed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2003, which critics believe is designed to protect Berlusconi's reported 90% control of the Italian national media. Berlusconi owns via Mediaset 3 of 7 national TV channels: (Canale 5, Italia 1, and Rete 4).
This statement was called by critics "Editto Bulgaro". The TV broadcasting of a satirical programme called RAIot was censored in November 2003 after the comedian Sabina Guzzanti made outspoken criticism of the Berlusconi media empire.
Mediaset, one of Berlusconi's companies, sued RAI over Guzzanti's program, demanding 20 million euros for "damages"; in November 2003 the show was cancelled by the president of RAI, Lucia Annunziata.
The law had been severely criticised by the centre-left opposition. In 2013, the European Parliament asked Italy to modify the Bossi-Fini law because it was too restrictive and severe. === Jokes, gestures, and blunders === Berlusconi has developed a reputation for making gaffes or insensitive remarks. On 2 July 2003, Berlusconi suggested that German Social democratic MEP Martin Schulz, who had criticised his domestic policies, should play a Nazi concentration camp guard in a film.
This incident caused a brief cooling of Italy's relationship with Germany. Addressing traders at the New York Stock Exchange in September 2003, Berlusconi listed a series of reasons to invest in Italy, the first of which was that "we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world".
Berlusconi's list also included the claim that Italy had "fewer communists, and those who are still here deny having been one". In 2003, during an interview with Nicholas Farrell, then editor of The Spectator, Berlusconi claimed that Mussolini "had been a benign dictator who did not murder opponents but sent them 'on holiday'".
Retrieved 7 June 2009 "Italy immunity law provokes fury", BBC news, 25 June 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi ally jailed for bribery", BBC News, 29 April 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi ally partially cleared", BBC News, 22 November 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi warns 'subversive' judges", BBC News, 8 August 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi stuns Italian judges", BBC News, 5 September 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "New storm over Berlusconi remarks", BBC News, 11 September 2003.
Retrieved 2 February 2005 "Jewish communities split over Berlusconi", BBC News, 26 September 2003.
In common with many other European governing groups, in the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, gaining 43.37% support.
The Freedom of the Press 2004 Global Survey, an annual study issued by the American organisation Freedom House, downgraded Italy's ranking from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' due to Berlusconi's influence over RAI, a ranking which, in "Western Europe" was shared only with Turkey ().
Reporters Without Borders states that in 2004, "The conflict of interests involving Prime Minister Berlusconi and his vast media empire was still not resolved and continued to threaten news diversity".
In April 2004, the International Federation of Journalists joined the criticism, objecting to the passage of a law vetoed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2003, which critics believe is designed to protect Berlusconi's reported 90% control of the Italian national media. Berlusconi owns via Mediaset 3 of 7 national TV channels: (Canale 5, Italia 1, and Rete 4).
The reform was met by almost unanimous dissent from the Italian judges, but was passed by the Italian parliament in December 2004.
Marcello Dell'Utri even stated that the Mafia did not exist at all. In 2004, Dell'Utri, co-founder of Forza Italia, was sentenced to nine years by a Palermo court on charge of "external association to the Mafia", a sentence describing Dell'Utri as a mediator between the economic interests of Berlusconi and members of the criminal organisation.
Berlusconi ‘The Diplomat’: Populism and Foreign Policy in Italy (Springer, 2018). Amedeo Benedetti, Il linguaggio e la retorica della nuova politica italiana: Silvio Berlusconi e Forza Italia, Erga, Genova, 2004, L'odore dei soldi.
Retrieved 24 December 2004 "Italy's left attacks Berlusconi", BBC news, 11 December 2004.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian magistrates go on strike", BBC News, 25 May 2004.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian president blocks reforms", BBC News, 16 December 2004.
As an outcome of these results the other coalition parties, whose electoral results were more satisfactory, asked Berlusconi and Forza Italia for greater influence in the government's political line. === Berlusconi III cabinet === In the 2005 regional elections (3 April/4 April 2005), centre-left candidates the for regional presidencies won in 12 out of 14 regions where control of local governments and presidencies were at stake.
Berlusconi after some hesitation, then presented to the President of the Republic a request for the dissolution of his government on 20 April 2005.
On 17 November 2005, Berlusconi commented, in relation to the prospect of such membership, that he is "convinced that even if it is a dream ...
He caused further offence in 2005, when he claimed that during the negotiations he had had to "dust off his playboy charms" to persuade the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to concede that the EFSA should be based in Parma instead of Finland, and compared Finnish smoked reindeer unfavourably to culatello.
(Marco Travaglio and Peter Gomez, 2005, RCS MediaGroup, ) Gustau Navarro i Barba Bagasses, lladres i ministres al país de Berlusconi Edicions dels A.L.I.LL, Mataró, 2009.
Retrieved 22 January 2005 "Berlusconi plans to get off the hook", The Observer, 7 October 2001.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian Senate passes disputed bill", BBC News, 2 August 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi scores double victory", BBC News, 5 November 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi ally jailed for bribery", BBC News, 29 April 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi ally partially cleared", BBC News, 22 November 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi warns 'subversive' judges", BBC News, 8 August 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Berlusconi stuns Italian judges", BBC News, 5 September 2003.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian judges fight reforms", BBC News, 20 June 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian magistrates go on strike", BBC News, 25 May 2004.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "Italian president blocks reforms", BBC News, 16 December 2004.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 Q&A: "Berlusconi's battle with the courts", BBC News, 24 January 2002.
Retrieved 1 February 2005 "New storm over Berlusconi remarks", BBC News, 11 September 2003.
Retrieved 2 February 2005 "Jewish communities split over Berlusconi", BBC News, 26 September 2003.
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
With the Neapolitan singer Mariano Apicella, he wrote two Neapolitan song albums: Meglio 'na canzone in 2003 and L'ultimo amore in 2006. In 1965, he married Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio, and they had two children: Maria Elvira, better known as Marina (born 1966), and Pier Silvio (born 1969).
Berlusconi then formed his second and third cabinets, until 2006.
Berlusconi was leader of the centre-right coalition in the April 2006 parliamentary elections, which he lost by a very narrow margin, his opponent again being Romano Prodi.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
Berlusconi promised to not stand for re-election in 2006 if he failed to honour at least four of these five promises. === Berlusconi II cabinet === Opposition parties claim Berlusconi was not able to achieve the goals he promised in his Contratto con gli Italiani.
The referendum was held on 25–26 July 2006 and resulted in the rejection of the constitutional reform, with 61.3% of voters casting ballots against it. === 2006 election and opposition === Operating under a new electoral law written unilaterally by the governing parties with strong criticism from the parliamentary opposition, the April 2006 general election was held.
When Romano Prodi became Prime Minister, Italian troops were gradually withdrawn from Iraq in the second half of 2006 with the last soldiers leaving the country in December of that year. === Relations with Russia === In November 2007, Italy's state-owned energy company Eni signed an agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to build the South Stream pipeline.
He is accused of bribing in 2006, with €3 million (of which 1 million and 2 million declared to the tax authorities in black), directed to Senator Sergio De Gregorio (the former leader of the Italians in the World party) to facilitate its passage into the ranks of the Berlusconi-led coalition House of Freedoms.
During the court proceedings, ex-senator Paolo Rossi (a former member of The Olive Tree party) also testified to have been offered a bribe from Berlusconi by another ex-Senator Antonio Tomassini (a former member of the defunct Christian Democrats), to change political sides and join Berlusconi's center-right bloc, so that they together could cause the fall of the Romano Prodi government in 2006–08.
The four-year term was longer than the three years and eight months the prosecutors had requested, but was shortened to one year in accord with a 2006 amnesty law intended to reduce prison overcrowding.
In March 2006, on the television channel Rai Tre, in a television interview with Lucia Annunziata during her talk show, In 1/2 h, he stormed out of the studio because of a disagreement with the host regarding the economic consequences of his government.
The pizza won first prize in America's Plate International pizza contest in March 2008. In March 2006, Berlusconi alleged that Chinese communists under Mao Zedong had "boiled [children] to fertilise the fields".
When Romano Prodi became Prime Minister, Italian troops were gradually withdrawn from Iraq in the second half of 2006 with the last soldiers leaving the country in December of that year. === Relations with Russia === In November 2007, Italy's state-owned energy company Eni signed an agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to build the South Stream pipeline.
In 2007, the court case at first-instance had not yet been launched, and the prosecutors dropped the (A) charges against Berlusconi due to the statute of limitations, and for the same reason the (B) charges were narrowed down to the 1994–98 period, in which the prosecutor charged Berlusconi for having committed a personal tax evasion of €7.3 million. On 26 October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of punishment by an Italian court for tax evasion.
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
He was re-elected in the parliamentary elections of April 2008 following the collapse of Prodi's government and sworn in for a third time as Prime Minister on 8 May 2008. After losing his majority in parliament amid growing fiscal problems related to the European debt crisis, Berlusconi resigned as Prime Minister on 16 November 2011.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
During that summit the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini urged his European colleagues to send "visible and concrete" signs to the countries concerned (Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, and Albania). === Relations with Libya === On 30 August 2008, the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi signed a historic cooperation treaty in Benghazi.
Di Pietro subsequently sued Berlusconi for aggravated defamation in June 2008.
Berlusconi did so, losing versus The Economist, and being charged for all the trial costs on 5 September 2008, when the Court in Milan issued a judgment rejecting all Mr Berlusconi's claims and sentenced him to compensate for The Economists legal expenses. In June 2011, The Economist published a strong article dealing with Mr.
He said Giuffrè had perpetuated the trend that every new turncoat would attack Dell'Utri and the former Christian Democrat prime minister Giulio Andreotti to earn money and judicial privileges. In October 2009, Gaspare Spatuzza, a Mafioso turncoat in 2008, has confirmed Giuffrè statements.
The pizza won first prize in America's Plate International pizza contest in March 2008. In March 2006, Berlusconi alleged that Chinese communists under Mao Zedong had "boiled [children] to fertilise the fields".
His opponent Romano Prodi criticised Berlusconi for offending the Chinese people and called his comments 'unthinkable'. In the run-up to the 2008 Italian general election, Berlusconi was accused of sexism for saying that female politicians from the right were "more beautiful" and that "the left has no taste, even when it comes to women".
In 2008 Berlusconi criticised the composition of the Council of Ministers of the Spanish Government as being too 'pink' by virtue of the fact that it had (once the President of the Council, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, is counted) an equal number of men and women.
He also stated that he doubted that such a composition would be possible in Italy given the "prevalence of men" in Italian politics. Also in 2008, Berlusconi caused controversy at a joint press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Putin's personal relationships, Berlusconi made a gesture towards the journalist imitating a gunman shooting. On 6 November 2008, two days after Barack Obama was elected the first black US president, Berlusconi referred to Obama as "young, handsome and even tanned": On 26 March 2009 he said "I'm paler [than Mr.
D'Addario also stated that Berlusconi knew that she was a paid escort. ==== Shots of Porto Rotondo ==== The attention of the newspapers was later attracted by numerous photos that the photographer Antonello Zappadu had taken on several occasions: some document a vacation in May 2008 in Berlusconi's summer residence in Porto Rotondo the then Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Mirek Topolánek appears in an Adamic dress: and during the party young girls in bikinis or topless.
In 2009, Forbes ranked him 12th in the List of The World's Most Powerful People due to his domination of Italian politics, throughout more than twenty years at the head of the centre-right coalition. Berlusconi was Prime Minister for nine years in total, making him the longest serving post-war Prime Minister of Italy, and the third longest-serving since Italian unification, after Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Giolitti.
He was the leader of the centre-right party Forza Italia from 1994 to 2009, and its successor party The People of Freedom from 2009 to 2013.
Berlusconi was the senior G8 leader from 2009 until 2011 and he currently holds the record for hosting G8 Summits (having hosted three Summits in Italy).
In May 2009, Lario announced that she was to file for divorce. On 28 December 2012, Berlusconi was ordered to pay his ex-wife Veronica Lario $48 million a year in a divorce settlement that was filed Christmas Day, but could keep the $100 million house they live in with their three children. Berlusconi has ten grandchildren. In April 2017, Berlusconi appeared in a video promoting a vegetarian Easter campaign.
According to the official minutes of the congress the result favoured Berlusconi, with 100 per cent of the delegates voting for him. === The People of Freedom split === Between 2009 and 2010, Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the national conservative National Alliance (AN) and President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, became a vocal critic of the leadership of Berlusconi.
To support Turkey's application the Italian Premier invited Prime Minister Erdoğan to take part in a meeting of the European leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, gathered in L'Aquila for the 2009 G8 summit.
Berlusconi has strongly defended Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians, continuing his support for Israel after leaving office. While Berlusconi was in office, Israel and Italy negotiated a $1 billion deal whereby Israel builds reconnaissance satellites for Italy, while Israel purchases the M-346 training plane for its air-force. === Relations with Belarus === Berlusconi visited Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus in 2009.
At a press conference, Berlusconi paid compliments to Lukashenko and said "Good luck to you and your people, whom I know love you". === Cooperation with the Western Balkans === On 5 April 2009, at the EU-US summit in Prague Berlusconi proposed an eight-point road map to accelerate the Euro-Atlantic integration of the western Balkans.
The treaty was ratified by the Italian government on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi.
The public prosecutor concluded the preliminary investigation 13 November 2009, by indicting Berlusconi for the defamation offence referred to in Article 595 paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code.
He said Giuffrè had perpetuated the trend that every new turncoat would attack Dell'Utri and the former Christian Democrat prime minister Giulio Andreotti to earn money and judicial privileges. In October 2009, Gaspare Spatuzza, a Mafioso turncoat in 2008, has confirmed Giuffrè statements.
Putin's personal relationships, Berlusconi made a gesture towards the journalist imitating a gunman shooting. On 6 November 2008, two days after Barack Obama was elected the first black US president, Berlusconi referred to Obama as "young, handsome and even tanned": On 26 March 2009 he said "I'm paler [than Mr.
He's more handsome, younger and taller." On 24 January 2009, Berlusconi announced his aim to increase the numbers of military patrolling the Italian cities from 3,000 to 30,000 to crack down on what he called an "evil army" of criminals.
Berlusconi was explicitly named as a person involved in the "commercial sexual exploitation of a Moroccan child". === Divorce and allegations of sexual misconduct === At the end of April 2009, Berlusconi's wife Veronica Lario, who would divorce him several years later, wrote an open letter expressing her anger at Berlusconi's choice of young, attractive female candidates—some with little or no political experience—to represent the party in the 2009 European Parliament elections.
On 28 May 2009, Berlusconi said that he had never had "spicy" relations with Letizia, and said that if any such thing had occurred, he would have resigned immediately. On 17 June 2009, Patrizia D'Addario, a 42-year-old escort and retired actress from Bari, Italy, claimed that she had been recruited twice to spend the evening with Berlusconi.
He also accused an unspecified person of manoeuvring and bribing D'Addario. On 26 June 2009, the "ten questions" to Berlusconi were reformulated by la Repubblica newspaper, and subsequently republished multiple times.
On 28 August 2009, Berlusconi sued Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, the owner company of the newspaper, and classified the ten questions as "defamatory" and "rhetorical". Berlusconi's lifestyle has raised eyebrows in Catholic circles, with vigorous criticism being expressed in particular by the newspaper Avvenire, owned by the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (Conference of Italian Bishops).
Dino Boffo has always declared the details of the proceedings to be false, although he has not denied the basic premise. After a period of tense exchanges and polemics, on 3 September 2009, Boffo resigned from his editorial position and the assistant editor Marco Tarquinio became editor ad interim. On 22 September 2009, after a press conference, Berlusconi declared that he had asked his ministers not to respond anymore to questions regarding "gossip".
He stated also that the Italian press should talk only about the "successes" of Italian Government in internal and foreign policies, adding also that the press now will be able only to ask questions relating to his administration and not to gossip. During a contested episode of AnnoZero on 1 October 2009, the journalist and presenter Michele Santoro interviewed Patrizia D'Addario.
On 5 June 2009, the Spanish newspaper El País published 5 of the 700 photos of the party.
In November 2009 she became a dental hygienist, and shortly afterward treated Berlusconi for two broken teeth and facial injuries after he was attacked with a marble statue at a political rally.
Milan, Adriano Galliani. == Health == ===Assault at rally=== On 13 December 2009, Berlusconi was hit in the face with an alabaster statuette of Milan Cathedral after a rally in Milan's Piazza del Duomo.
The suspect was known to have a history of mental illness and mandatory treatment in mental institutions. Berlusconi was discharged from the hospital on 17 December 2009. ===Heart problems=== On 7 June 2016, after the campaign for the local elections, Berlusconi was hospitalized to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan because of heart problems.
(Marco Travaglio and Peter Gomez, 2005, RCS MediaGroup, ) Gustau Navarro i Barba Bagasses, lladres i ministres al país de Berlusconi Edicions dels A.L.I.LL, Mataró, 2009.
"The Thing Berluscony", by Nobel Prize Winner José Saramago, El País, 7 June 2009.
Retrieved 7 June 2009 "Italy immunity law provokes fury", BBC news, 25 June 2003.
According to the official minutes of the congress the result favoured Berlusconi, with 100 per cent of the delegates voting for him. === The People of Freedom split === Between 2009 and 2010, Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the national conservative National Alliance (AN) and President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, became a vocal critic of the leadership of Berlusconi.
His criticism was aimed at the leadership style of Berlusconi, who tends to rely on his personal charisma to lead the party from the centre and supports a less structured form of party, a movement-party that organises itself only at election times. On 15 April 2010, an association named Generation Italy was launched to better represent Fini's views within the party and push for a different form of party organisation.
On 22 April 2010 the National Committee of the PdL convened in Rome for the first time in a year.
On 29 July 2010, the party executive released a document in which Fini was described as "incompatible" with the political line of the PdL and unable to perform his job of President of the Chamber of Deputies in a neutral way.
Before the case against Berlusconi can begin, the Italian Chamber of Deputies however shall be called for trial to defend and explain the reasons for passing their unconstitutional law from 2010.
It was vetoed by the Italian President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. During the night hours between 5 and 6 March 2010, the Berlusconi-led Italian government passed a decree "interpreting" the electoral law to let the PDL candidate run for governor in Lazio after she had failed to properly register for the elections.
In 2010, Palermo's appeals court cut the sentence to seven years but fully confirmed Dell'Utri's role as a link between Berlusconi and the Mafia until 1992. In 1996, a Mafia informer, Salvatore Cancemi, declared that Berlusconi and Dell'Utri were in direct contact with Salvatore Riina, head of the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s.
Berlusconi responded to the allegations by saying the jokes were "neither an offence nor a sin, but merely a laugh". On 1 November 2010, after once again being accused of involvement in juvenile prostitution, he suggested that an audience at the Milan trade fair should stop reading newspapers: "Don't read newspapers any more because they deceive you.
The Rome Prosecutor's Office, on the recommendation of Berlusconi, seized the photographic material for violation of privacy. === Rubygate === In November 2010, 17-year-old Moroccan belly dancer and alleged prostitute Karima El Mahroug (better known as "Ruby Rubacuori") claimed to have been given $10,000 by Berlusconi at parties at his private villas.
The girl told prosecutors in Milan that these events were like orgies where Berlusconi and 20 young women performed an African-style ritual known as the "bunga bunga" in the nude. It was also found out that, on 27 May 2010, El Mahroug had been arrested for theft by the Milan police but (being still a minor) she was directed to a shelter for juvenile offenders.
In February 2010, she was selected as one of the candidates representing Berlusconi's The People of Freedom party, despite her lack of any political experience, and was seated on the Regional Council of Lombardy the following month. The Guardian reported that according to a series of media reports in October 2010, Berlusconi had met El Mahroug, then 17, through Nicole Minetti.
After Lario sold some of her ownership in 2010, Paolo Berlusconi acquired a majority interest in the newspaper.
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
Berlusconi was the senior G8 leader from 2009 until 2011 and he currently holds the record for hosting G8 Summits (having hosted three Summits in Italy).
In 1999, Berlusconi expanded his media interests by forming a partnership with Kirch called the Epsilon MediaGroup. On 9 July 2011, a Milan court ordered Fininvest to pay 560 million euros in damages to Compagnie Industriali Riunite in a long-running legal dispute. On 5 August 2016, Fininvest announced the signing of a preliminary agreement to sell all of their shares of A.C.
He was re-elected in the parliamentary elections of April 2008 following the collapse of Prodi's government and sworn in for a third time as Prime Minister on 8 May 2008. After losing his majority in parliament amid growing fiscal problems related to the European debt crisis, Berlusconi resigned as Prime Minister on 16 November 2011.
He subsequently served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011.
On 14 December, FLI voted against Berlusconi in a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, a vote nonetheless won by Berlusconi by 314 to 311. In May 2011, PdL suffered a big blow in local elections.
Umberto Bossi, leader of Lega Nord, a partner in Berlusconi's right-wing coalition, was quoted as informing reporters outside parliament, "We asked the prime minister to step aside." On 12 November 2011, after a final meeting with his cabinet, Berlusconi met Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Palazzo del Quirinale to tend his resignation.
On 16 November, Monti announced that he had formed a Cabinet and was sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy, also appointing himself as Minister of Economy and Finances. In the following years Berlusconi often expressed his point of view regarding his resignation in 2011.
In September 2014, Berlusconi accused the United States, NATO and EU of "a ridiculously and irresponsibly sanctioning approach to the Russian Federation, which cannot but defend Ukrainian citizens of Russian origin that it considers brothers". The two leaders often described their relationship as a close friendship, continuing to organize bilateral meetings even after Berlusconi's resignation in November 2011. === Relations with Israel === Under Berlusconi, Italy was an ally of Israel.
(According to protocol, Gaddafi should have sat three places away from Berlusconi). However, when Gaddafi faced a civil war in 2011, Italy imposed a freeze on some Libyan assets linked to him and his family, pursuant to a United Nations-sponsored regime and then bombed the country with the violation of Libya of the No-Fly Zone.
After his resignation in 2011, Berlusconi has become increasingly Eurosceptic, and he is often critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. One of Berlusconi's main leadership tactics is to use the party as an apparatus to reach power (defined as a "light party", because of a lack of a complex structure).
Allegedly a bribery with €2,500 paid per month for each of the 18 Olgettine girls from Arcore (the girls – including Ruby – participating in the evening events at Berlusconi's residence) to speak in favor of Berlusconi, had been started by his two defending lawyers, Niccolò Ghedini and Piero Longo, in the aftermath of the opened police investigation on 15 January 2011.
Berlusconi did so, losing versus The Economist, and being charged for all the trial costs on 5 September 2008, when the Court in Milan issued a judgment rejecting all Mr Berlusconi's claims and sentenced him to compensate for The Economists legal expenses. In June 2011, The Economist published a strong article dealing with Mr.
The remarks were immediately condemned by Arcigay, Italy's main gay rights organisation. On 13 July 2011, according to a leaked telephone surveillance transcript, Berlusconi told his presumed blackmailer Valter Lavitola: "The only thing they can say about me is that I screw around [...] Now they're spying on me, controlling my phone calls.
I have intervened on behalf of some personalities who are not leftists and have been completely set apart by RAI TV." In the US State Department's 2011 Trafficking in Persons report authorized by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Mr.
The fact that this coincided with severe cuts being made to the country's arts budget provoked a strong reaction from the public. In January 2011, Berlusconi was placed under criminal investigation relating to El Mahroug for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute and for abuse of office relating to her release from detention.
Berlusconi's lawyers were quick to deny the allegations as "absurd and without foundation" and called the investigation a "serious interference with the private life of the prime minister without precedent in the judicial history of the country". On 15 February 2011, a judge indicted Berlusconi to stand trial on charges carrying up to 15 years in prison.
In May 2009, Lario announced that she was to file for divorce. On 28 December 2012, Berlusconi was ordered to pay his ex-wife Veronica Lario $48 million a year in a divorce settlement that was filed Christmas Day, but could keep the $100 million house they live in with their three children. Berlusconi has ten grandchildren. In April 2017, Berlusconi appeared in a video promoting a vegetarian Easter campaign.
This theory was confirmed by the former Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. === 2013 general election === In December 2012, Berlusconi announced on television that he would run again to become Prime Minister.
On 19 January 2012, this judgement was set aside by the Supreme Court, which ruled that Berlusconi had been speaking during a campaign rally and not in an institutional setting; meaning he was not covered by the immunity protection provided for by Article 68, and consequently should face a new trial to be held either at the Viterbo court or the Constitutional Court. On 10 January 2013, the Viterbo court decided to transfer the case for judgement directly to the Constitutional Court.
In 2007, the court case at first-instance had not yet been launched, and the prosecutors dropped the (A) charges against Berlusconi due to the statute of limitations, and for the same reason the (B) charges were narrowed down to the 1994–98 period, in which the prosecutor charged Berlusconi for having committed a personal tax evasion of €7.3 million. On 26 October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years of punishment by an Italian court for tax evasion.
However, a new anti-corruption law passed in late 2012, referred to as the Severino law, will bar Berlusconi from seeking elective office for six years, independently of the court's final ruling regarding the length of the public office ban.
According to the Severino law, which became enacted by the Monti government in December 2012, anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison is deemed ineligible to hold public office for a period of six years (or eight years if convicted for "abuse of power"), and should immediately be expelled from the parliament.
Berlusconi has argued that the Severino law can not be used to expel persons convicted for crimes committed before December 2012, and pleaded for the proceedings to be postponed until the European Court of Human Rights or Italy's constitutional court had ruled, whether or not he was correct about his interpretation of the law.
Berlusconi described the COVID-19 as "the most dangerous and frightening experience" of his lifetime. ==Personal fortune== In 2012, Forbes magazine reported that Berlusconi was Italy's sixth richest man, with a net worth of $5.9 billion.
He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013 and has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019, and previously from 1999 to 2001. Berlusconi is the controlling shareholder of Mediaset and owned the Italian football club A.C.
He was the leader of the centre-right party Forza Italia from 1994 to 2009, and its successor party The People of Freedom from 2009 to 2013.
Since November 2013, he has led a revived Forza Italia.
After serving nearly 19 years as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy's lower house, after the 2013 general election he became a member of the Senate. On 1 August 2013, he was convicted of tax fraud by the court of final instance, the Court of Cassation, confirming his four-year prison sentence (of which three years are automatically pardoned) along with a public office ban for two years.
In February 2013 Berlusconi has led the People of Freedom and its right-wing allies in the campaign for the parliamentary elections.
Following Berlusconi's resignation, Mario Monti formed a new government that would remain in office until the next scheduled elections in 2013.
This theory was confirmed by the former Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. === 2013 general election === In December 2012, Berlusconi announced on television that he would run again to become Prime Minister.
We did, and how! But there isn't one...I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility." On 7 January 2013, Berlusconi announced he had made a coalition agreement (Centre-right coalition) with Lega Nord (LN); as part of it, PdL would support Roberto Maroni's bid for the presidency of Lombardy, and he will run as "leader of the coalition", but suggested he could accept a role as Minister of Economy under a cabinet headed by another People of Freedom member, such as Angelino Alfano.
In 2013, he returned to calling Mussolini a good leader whose biggest mistake was signing up to exterminate the Jews.
Along with Berlusconi, a journalist (Valter Lavitola) at the head of the socialist newspaper L'Avanti! was also investigated, and Sergio De Gregorio self-confessed being the recipient of the bribery. On 23 October 2013, Berlusconi and Valter Lavitola were both indicted by the judge for preliminary hearings, Amelia Primavera.
On 19 January 2012, this judgement was set aside by the Supreme Court, which ruled that Berlusconi had been speaking during a campaign rally and not in an institutional setting; meaning he was not covered by the immunity protection provided for by Article 68, and consequently should face a new trial to be held either at the Viterbo court or the Constitutional Court. On 10 January 2013, the Viterbo court decided to transfer the case for judgement directly to the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court ruled on 20 June 2013, that the Chamber of Deputies decree having extended Berlusconi's immunity beyond what was provided for by the constitution, was a case with conflict of powers and should be disregarded.
In January 2013, judges rejected an application from Berlusconi's lawyers to have the trial adjourned so that it would not interfere with Italy's 2013 general election in which Berlusconi was participating.
On 24 June 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying El Mahroug for sex when she was 17 years old, and of abusing his powers in an ensuing cover up.
Berlusconi and his co-defendants were also ordered to pay a 10 million euro fine and were banned from holding public office for three years. On 8 May 2013, the Court of Appeals in Milan confirmed the four-year prison sentence, and extended the public office ban to five years.
On 1 August 2013, the Court of Cassation (final appeal) confirmed the sentence of 4 years, of which the last three years are automatically pardoned.
On 27 November 2013, the Senate voted 192:113 for enforcement of Berlusconi's immediate expulsion and a six-year ban from serving any legislative office. Berlusconi was expected to start serving his four-year prison sentence (reduced to one year), either under house arrest or doing unpaid social community service, in mid-October 2013.
Due to a general pardon, his imprisonment was reduced to one year, which due to his age can be served either as a house arrest at his private residence or as community service. On 24 June 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying an underage prostitute for sex, and of abusing his powers in an ensuing cover up.
The law had been severely criticised by the centre-left opposition. In 2013, the European Parliament asked Italy to modify the Bossi-Fini law because it was too restrictive and severe. === Jokes, gestures, and blunders === Berlusconi has developed a reputation for making gaffes or insensitive remarks. On 2 July 2003, Berlusconi suggested that German Social democratic MEP Martin Schulz, who had criticised his domestic policies, should play a Nazi concentration camp guard in a film.
In 2013, he returned to calling Mussolini a good leader whose biggest mistake was signing up to exterminate the Jews. Berlusconi had made disparaging remarks about Finnish cuisine during negotiations to decide on the location of the European Food Safety Authority in 2001.
In January 2013, judges rejected an application from Berlusconi's lawyers to have the trial adjourned so that it would not interfere with Italy's 2013 general election in which Berlusconi participated. On 24 June 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying for sex with an underage prostitute and of abusing his office.
He is nicknamed Il Cavaliere (The Knight) for his Order of Merit for Labour, although he voluntarily resigned from this order in March 2014.
In September 2014, Berlusconi accused the United States, NATO and EU of "a ridiculously and irresponsibly sanctioning approach to the Russian Federation, which cannot but defend Ukrainian citizens of Russian origin that it considers brothers". The two leaders often described their relationship as a close friendship, continuing to organize bilateral meetings even after Berlusconi's resignation in November 2011. === Relations with Israel === Under Berlusconi, Italy was an ally of Israel.
The court hearing at first-instance for the indicted Berlusconi, has been scheduled to start on 11 February 2014.
The court hearing against the Chamber of Deputies took place on 8 July 2014, where the constitutional court was asked to deem the concerned Chamber of Deputies decree to be unconstitutional and annul it, by the Court of Rome and the Viterbo court.
In January 2014, Berlusconi deposited an appeal against the judgment, requesting complete absolution.
On 18 July 2014, the Italian appeals court announced the appeal had been successful and the convictions against Berlusconi were being overturned.
On 23 January 2014, the public prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati, asked for a legal case to be opened for a preliminary hearing. Illegal financing of the political party Italians in the World: On 16 April 2014, the Naples prosecutor deposited new documents in which Berlusconi is under investigation for the crime in recent years of illegal financing of the political party Italians in the World, being led by ex-Senator Sergio De Gregorio.
Because of bureaucracy in the legal court system, it was however expected his one-year-long full-time community service would only start in around April 2014.
He was acquitted from the sex charges by the Italy appeals court on Friday, 18 July 2014. === Economic conflicts of interest === According to journalists Marco Travaglio and Enzo Biagi, Berlusconi entered politics to save his companies from bankruptcy and himself from convictions.
In 1999, Berlusconi expanded his media interests by forming a partnership with Kirch called the Epsilon MediaGroup. On 9 July 2011, a Milan court ordered Fininvest to pay 560 million euros in damages to Compagnie Industriali Riunite in a long-running legal dispute. On 5 August 2016, Fininvest announced the signing of a preliminary agreement to sell all of their shares of A.C.
The deal was scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2016.
More recently, Berlusconi has declared himself favourable to civil unions. === Comparisons to other leaders === A number of writers and political commentators consider Berlusconi's political success a precedent for the 2016 election of real estate tycoon Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, with most noting Berlusconi's panned Prime Ministerial tenure and therefore making the comparison in dismay.
The suspect was known to have a history of mental illness and mandatory treatment in mental institutions. Berlusconi was discharged from the hospital on 17 December 2009. ===Heart problems=== On 7 June 2016, after the campaign for the local elections, Berlusconi was hospitalized to the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan because of heart problems.
Milan from 1986 to 2017.
In May 2009, Lario announced that she was to file for divorce. On 28 December 2012, Berlusconi was ordered to pay his ex-wife Veronica Lario $48 million a year in a divorce settlement that was filed Christmas Day, but could keep the $100 million house they live in with their three children. Berlusconi has ten grandchildren. In April 2017, Berlusconi appeared in a video promoting a vegetarian Easter campaign.
On 13 April 2017, Berlusconi sold A.C.
Milan from 1986 to 2017, and currently owns A.C.
In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked him as the 190th richest man in the world with a net worth of US$8.0 billion.
Berlusconi ‘The Diplomat’: Populism and Foreign Policy in Italy (Springer, 2018). Amedeo Benedetti, Il linguaggio e la retorica della nuova politica italiana: Silvio Berlusconi e Forza Italia, Erga, Genova, 2004, L'odore dei soldi.
He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013 and has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019, and previously from 1999 to 2001. Berlusconi is the controlling shareholder of Mediaset and owned the Italian football club A.C.
After his ban ended, Berlusconi ran for and was successfully elected as an MEP at the 2019 European Parliament election. Berlusconi was the first person to assume the premiership without having held any prior government or administrative offices.
However, the general election resulted in the Lega Nord winning more seats than Forza Italia, and no electoral coalition winning an outright majority. === Political comeback and election to European Parliament === In January 2019, Berlusconi expressed his intention to run for candidacy in the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy.
After two days, on 9 June, his personal doctor Alberto Zangrillo announced that the stroke could have killed him and he must have a heart surgery to replace a defective aortic valve. ===COVID-19=== On 2 September 2020, amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Berlusconi tested positive for COVID-19.
Professor Alberto Zangrillo, head of intensive care at San Raffaele Hospital, said on 11 September 2020 that Berlusconi was admitted with a very high and dangerous viral load, but that he was improving and his response to the disease had been "optimal". On 14 September, he was discharged from the hospital.
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