By Nick Squires in Rome - 9 Oct 2009
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, on Friday made an embarrassing gaffe when he said he had spent
millions of euros on "judges" as part of an impassioned plea that he was the most persecuted man in history.
Mr Berlusconi quickly corrected his mistake, clarifying that as a result of the multiple investigations in which he had been embroiled he had spent 200 million euros on "consultants and lawyers". But the slip has added poignancy since it came just six days after Fininvest, Mr Berlusconi's holding company, was ordered to pay almost £700 million in damages to a rival firm after being found guilty of bribing a judge. The case dated back to a takeover battle in the 1990s.
The prime minister's latest attack on the judiciary follows his defeat this week in the country's highest court, which overturned a law that protected him from prosecution while he was in office. Mr Berlusconi argues that he is being persecuted and that he should be above the law for now since the investigations leave him with no time to govern.
The defeat has paved the way for several cases against him to be reopened, including accusations that he bribed David Mills, his British former tax accountant, in exchange for lying in court.
"I am without a doubt the person who has been most persecuted by judges in the entire history of the world and the history of man," he told journalists on emerging from a cabinet meeting in Rome. He said he had made more than 2,500 court appearances and spent more than 200 million euros in the various legal cases that have dogged him since he entered politics 15 years ago.
Mr Berlusconi still has high popularity ratings but his position has weakened in the last few months due to a string of sex scandals, including claims that he slept with a prostitute. A stinging personal attack on the country's head of state this week could further damage his credibility among even his most devoted supporters.
Mr Berlusconi accused Giorgio Napolitano, the Italian president, of being a Communist stooge and was pointedly warned by Gianfranco Fini, a powerful ally and a potential rival for power, that he must "respect the head of state".
Lawyers for Mr Mills have meanwhile launched an appeal in a Milan court against his conviction for taking a $600,000 bribe – today worth £377,000 – from Mr Berlusconi in exchange for lying in court for the media tycoon.
Mr Mills, the estranged husband of Tessa Jowell, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, was found guilty of accepting the bribe in February and sentenced in absentia to four and a half years in prison.
Mr Mills told the Daily Telegraph from England that as part of his appeal he wanted Mr Berlusconi to give evidence on his behalf.
"One of the grounds of the appeal is that the court refused to allow us to call him as a witness at the trial," he said. "He knows whether he bribed me or not. "I want to be acquitted, because I'm innocent. If that doesn't happen then a retrial, done properly, would be the next best thing." Under Italy's justice system Mr Mills remains at liberty until the case has gone through an exhaustive appeals system.
Mr Mills said he had no fear of setting foot in the country. "I have been to Italy several times on business in the past year," he said, adding that he hoped to have a decision on the appeal by the end of the month.
Mr Berlusconi, in spite of constant tirades against his perceived enemies, has retained his sense of humour. On Friday he joked that he was a wanted mafia gangster.
He said Roberto Maroni, the interior minister, was "very, very busy" hunting down organised crime gangs, "although he has yet to catch me, as a Mafioso."
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