Court turns down plea to transfer Berlusconi bribery trial

Italy's highest court has turned down an appeal by Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, to have a trial in which he is accused of bribery moved from Milan.

Lawyers for Mr Berlusconi, who faces charges of bribing judges, argue that the judges in Milan are biased against him.

A success for Mr Berlusconi would almost certainly have signalled the end of the case. The trial, which has been going on for two years, would have had to be started from scratch in Brescia, northern Italy. The country's rules on statute of limitation mean that if there is no result in a trial within a certain period, the crime at issue is extinguished.

Moving trials is irregular and the grounds for doing so very limited. One reason might be civil unrest or something else that could disturb the course of the proceedings. The transfer certainly would have been a setback for the judiciary.

Mr Berlusconi claims that many magistrates are politically inclined to the left and biased against him. Members of the judiciary say the Prime Minister is trying to limit their powers.

The judgment affects three cases, known as the Dirty Gowns in reference to judges alleged to have accepted bribes. Mr Berlusconi is charged in only one, although originally he was implicated in a second. Mr Berlusconi's close friend Cesare Previti, a former lawyer for his companies and former minister of defence, faces charges in all three.

Mr Berlusconi's case concerns the takeover of SME, a food and catering firm. In 1986, a contract to buy SME was ruled invalid and a higher bid accepted from a company in which Mr Berlusconi had a stake. The prosecution alleges that movement of money can be traced from one of Mr Berlusconi's companies to judges in Rome.

Although the judges' decison to let the trial continue in Milan is a blow to Mr Berlusconi, it is unlikely to affect his standing in the eyes of Italians, most of whom show little interest in his legal tribulations.