Berlusconi: court admits Senate of Italy as civil plaintiff in bribing trial

Wednesday, 26 February 2014. A court in Naples has granted the Senate of Italy's request to be a civil plaintiff in a new bribery trial with the involvement of Silvio Berlusconi.

A series of new investigations are leading a Neapolitanian court to set up a trial against Silvio Berlusconi, for bribing an Italian senator, though rumours spread that the senators might even be more than one.

Silvio Berlusconi screaming for vengeance against the "red judges"

The current case is about Mr Sergio De Gregorio, a member of the Senate of Italy who received €3m (£2.46m or $4.11m) for switching sides to centre-right, and by doing this helped bring down the centre-left government of Romano Prodi, and triggered an election that Berlusconi won, back in 2007.

Berlusconi: new trial for bribing senators, in quite a few occasions

Wednesday, 12 February 2014. A new investigation began today in Naples, regarding a few circumstances in which Berlusconi might gave offered money and other benefits to senators who would cast a favourable vote for the ex-prime minister.

Corruption what? 

There were a few situations in which Italian senators from a number of political sides took a last minute decision and turned against the will of their parties and voted in favour of Mr Berlusconi, and these circumstances sounded a bit fishy to some judges in Naples, who decided to investigate them. At least that's what we've learned from the news.

All this could cause new headaches to the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has already been sentenced for tax fraud, is currently appealing against a prison sentence for having sex with an under-age prostitute and abuse of office (and the proceedings are now contiuing on the grouds that witnesses might have been bribed by Berlusconi), and was kicked out of the Senate of Italy (due to the first conviction).

Silvio Berlusconi and the Barbarous Act of Left-wing Journalists

Thursday, June 21, 2007. Silvio Berlusconi receives a phone call from Agostino Saccà, a national TV broadcaster RAI director. An example of how an Italian-way exchange of favours happens.

The reason of the call is simple: Agostino Saccà needs political help from the head of the the opposition (actually Mr Urbani, a man of the PdL - People of Liberty party - is “acting like an ass-hole”) and Silvio Berlusconi – as usual, since he's “torn by the requests” – needs to fix a couple of acquaintances up with a television role.

Video from our YouTube Channel: Berluschannel

The acquaintances are two nice looking and young women (how strange!), the Neapolitan actress Elena Russo and Evelina Manna, a would-be actress and alleged Silvio Berlusconi's girlfriend.

Evelina Manna, (would-be) actress

Elena Russo's case would get a little boost later on, as Berlusconi will become the Prime Minister. Elena in fact became the protagonist of a TV spot boasting about how the right-wing government solved the problem of waste in Naples.

Here's the script:

Narrator: “Naples had a problem, let's not talk about that again. We know what was that. Than the Government intervened. And when the Government, the State, does something it's just like all the Italian did it.

But now we need the commitment of everybody, who lives there and comes to visit. Let's keep it clean. It's more beautiful”.

Elena Russo: “Thank you. Naples. Beautiful yesterday, beautiful today, beautiful tomorrow”.

Elena Russo, in a role on Italian TV

The transcripts of the interceptions leaked in December 2007 (most of the media published it on 20 December) and led to a corruption investigation, dismissed by Mr Berlusconi's fans as another barbarous act of left-wing journalism by Mr Berlusconi's fans. 

Silvio Berlusconi and the Neapolitan Rubbish War

Saturday, March 26 2011. Naples (Campania, Italy). 1,200 tonnes of waste in the streets of Naples. A problem Silvio Berlusconi already solved for good, several times.

Silvio, the road-sweeper

“The waste emergency is over!” declared a triumphant Berlusconi, thank to Guido Bertolaso (then the head of the Civil Protection Department) who dealt with the problem, and the incinerators in Hamburg (Germany), were a few hundred tonnes of garbage were sent, from Campania. Daily. It was July 2008.

The newly elected Prime Minister's blitzkrieg against the garbage of Naples was a visible sign of his utter commitment and ability in tackling Italy long-time problems.

After then, the rubbish problem showed up a few times, from time to time. And our hero (and his staff) always answered in a snappy way, as usual. With a great deal of humour and levity.

Naples today (ANSA)

Here are some of the best puns: “My challenge is to make Naples the cleanest city in Italy and in the world!” and “the model should be Singapore, where littering was punished with 7 lashes on the back”, “Let's talk about the REAL waste” and “TG3 (note: the RAI “communist” channel's news) does not exist”, “It (the Acerra's incinerator) will pollute like three small cars”, “In Acerra everything works perfectly” and “Were has he been? In Acerra or Disneyworld”.

At least he managed to find where the problem is: Mafia control over the waste business, illegal dumping of risky waste, the Neapolitans are not recycling enough, the Neapolitans should behave in a better way, the (old) Naples' administration was full of communists. Will he find the REAL solution too?