(18 Jun 2003) SHOTLIST
Rome – 18 June 2003
1. Wide of Montecitorio, the Italian Lower House with protesters gathered outside
2. Various of protesters gathering in front of the Lower House
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Marina Astrologo, coordinator of the protest
"This piece of legislation has been re-established to help Mr. Berlusconi, our prime minister, to escape from his charges……"
4. John Cabot University, Rome
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Franco Pavoncello, Dean of John Cabot University of Rome and Professor of Political Science, English:
"Now, one thing that remains to be seen is what happens should Mr. Berlusconi be convicted, condemned during the European semester. Certainly, it would have very serious difficulty politically, and I am not sure that the government could withstand a guilty verdict for Mr. Berlusconi at the trial. At the same time, I think that the whole political system would be severely damaged by something like that and I believe that what the political system is trying to devise now is some sort of compromise that will allow the European semester and the political institutions to function, even faced with the trial."
Milan – 17 June 2003
6. Berlusconi’s trial in Milan on Tuesday
7. Wide of courtroom at the beginning of the trial
8. Midshot of Berlusconi at the Audience
Rome – 18 June 2003
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Franco Pavoncello, Dean of John Cabot University of Rome and Professor of Political Science, English:
"So we might see, for instance, the freezing of the trial, a postponement of the trial, or even what people are talking about a freezing of any trial vis-a-vis the most important institutional roles of the republic."
Milan – 17 June 2003
10. Wide shot of Berlusconi in Courtroom during Tuesday’s audience
STORYLINE:
Italy’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday moved closer to passing an immunity bill that will suspend Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s bribery trial just as it was nearing a verdict.
In early evening, the Chamber of Deputies approved the first article of the bill, which would result in suspending the trial for Berlusconi while he is in office.
Debate on several other articles of the bill was continuing, and the entire legislation was expected to pass later on Wednesday night.
Earlier this month, the Senate gave its approval to the bill, which spares the top five public officials from prosecution while in office.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is expected to sign the bill into law soon, meaning the case against Berlusconi will likely be suspended before Italy takes over the high-profile European Union presidency July 1.
Berlusconi’s centre-right allies in parliament championed the legislation after the premier’s lawyers tried and failed to have the three-year-old trial delayed or moved from Milan.
His allies also wanted to avoid the embarrassment of a possible conviction during Italy’s six-month rotating term at the helm of the EU.
Berlusconi, a billionaire media magnate, is accused of bribing judges to sway a ruling in the sale of a state-held food conglomerate SME in the 1980s, a decade before he went into politics.
He has denied the charges and says he is the victim of left-leaning prosecutors in Milan.
Berlusconi defended himself against the charges on Tuesday, appearing in a packed Milan courtroom and accusing prosecutors of slinging mud at him and the nation and making a case out of "fervid fantasy".
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