Judge in Andreotti trial is threatened with death

The judge who sentenced the former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti to 24 years in jail on Sunday for ordering the murder of a journalist is under police guard after receiving a death threat.

An anonymous caller told the operator at the Court of Appeal in the city of Perugia that Lino Gebriele Verrina "will end up like Giovanni Falcone". Mr Falcone, a judge in Sicily who fearlessly confronted the Mafia, was murdered in a car bomb attack in 1992. The threat was taken seriously, and tight security was immediately provided both for Mr Verrina and another judge at the appeals court, Maurizio Muscato.

At his home 35 miles outside Perugia, with police checking passing traffic, Mr Verrina said: "It's not the first time I have received such threats ... I will continue to lead my life as normal, going to the gym and walking five or six kilometres every day."

The harsh sentence given by the Perugia bench to Italy's most enduring post-war leader, a senator-for-life and an institution in Italian public life, shocked and dismayed politicians across the spectrum, even though Andreotti is almost certain to appeal, and will not go to jail because, at 83, he is too old.

The verdict provoked a fierce attack on the judiciary from the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who has been at the receiving end of numerous law suits alleging bribery and corruption.

But there were also cries of protest from the left: Fausto Bertinotti, leader of the Refounded Communist Party, said he was "greatly, deeply disconcerted" by the verdict, adding that Italy had been plunged into a state of uncertainty where "no one believes anyone any more".

Some outside the political elite took a far different view. "Who is to say that a court is guilty of bias because it has reached a different decision from another court?" argued Antonio di Pietro, an Italian MEP who as a public prosecutor in Milan 10 years ago led the judicial campaign, nicknamed Tangentopoli ("Bribesville") in the media, to nail corrupt politicians. "And why is everyone saying the second decision is wrong?"

Mr Verrina himself appeared unruffled by the roars of outrage at his bench's decision, but mildly irritated all the same. "I don't understand why they don't wait to hear the motivation behind the sentence before pronouncing on it," he said.

The reasons for the judgement will be published within 90 days. The judge declined to leak any hints as to his reasoning in advance.