Berlusconi's tax fraud appeal hearing date set too early?

Wednesday, 10 July 2013. A decision by the Court of Cassation – which sets for as early as 30 July Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud appeal hearing – gets Italy's political life in turmoil ignited also by newspapers' aggressive headlines.

"State bandits"

“State bandits” reads Berlusconi's family newspaper Il Giornale (“The Newspaper”) today's headline with a list of evidence items (34 trials, 0 definitive sentences, and so on), showing how ballistic the former prime minister intends to go in his fighting the 20 Year's War against the Italian judiciary, which is guilty of having anticipated the appeal hearings, (allegedly) in order to avoid any risk of statute of limitations that might influence some of the charges in September.

Mr Berlusconi's entourage – amongst them the newspaper's editor Allesandro Sallusti - obviously counted on the fact that the media tycoon would by saved by the bell (namely the statue of limitation).

Silvio Berlusconi and his (real?) bride

Monday, September 29, 2011. As Silvio Berlusconi's sex-trial approaches, a new girlfriend comes on stage, and the atmosphere gets pretty hotter.

During the last years, several girls and women were believed or claimed to have had a love story with the Italian prime minister Berlusconi:  German actress of Bosnian descent Sabina Beganovic, Italian model Roberta Bonasia and Italian actress Evelina Manna amongst the others.

Twin sisters Knezevic

But now a new pretender to the title of Italy's unofficial First Lady appears: the former Miss Montenegro Katarina Knezevic. The young model is 20 years old, but she claims to have been the 75-year-old tycoon girlfriend since she was 18. She also said that she used to live in Italian prime minister's villa in Arcore, near Milan.

The leaks about this affair came to light through the anti-Berlusconi Repubblica newspaper, just a couple of days ago, 5 days before the new hearings of one of the two parts of the trial regarding Italian prime minister's under-age prostitution charges. And Il Fatto Quotidiano had a interview with her just yesterday (though Katarina's lawyer - few hours ago - denied she realeased any interview at all).

Coincidences? And is it good news or bad news for Silvio Berlusconi? Hard to say.

Shoe manufacturer Tod's Diego Della Valle

Allegedly Berlusconi paid Katarina 750,000 euro (during the interview the Montenegrin replied replied: “So little? And if it was three million?”), and rumours spread that the two elder sisters of Katarina (Slavica e Zorica) might have attempted to blackmail the prime minister. The two were also linked to Montenegrin godfather Ratko Djokic, murdered in Stockholm in 2002.

To prove that something is not kosher in Italy, in the meanwhile – more precisely last Saturday – Diego Della Valle, owner of Tod's shoe maker and Fiorentina football club, decided to appeal to Italian politicians' morality through a newspaper ad calling on them to act in a responsible way to get Italy «out of this very preoccupying moment».

A hint of accusation from Cardinal Bagnasco

Few days ago it was the time of Italian cardinal Bagnasco to condemn “life styles not easily compatible with personal dignity, institutional decorum and public life”.

The whole story might appear funny to Berlusconi, but other people might think otherwise. and it looks like there's a few men in Italy that would like somebody else than Silvio Berlusconi to play the role of prime minister, isn't it?