Top magistrates, PD say judiciary's independence at risk
Berlusconi claims Milan judges are persecuting ex-premier
13 March, 18:14
(ANSA) - Rome, March 13 - Protests against judges by
ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and his supporters risk impinging
on the independence of the Italian judiciary, a statement by the
majority of the members of the judiciary's self-governing body,
the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), said Wednesday.MPs from Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party staged an unprecedented demonstration Monday inside Milan's court house against an alleged intensification of judicial persecution of their leader.
The PdL launched the demo after judges in the ex-premier's trial for allegedly paying for sex with a minor sent doctors to verify if an eye problem for which the premier has been hospitalised justified his not attending the final stage of the closely watched case.
"The serious acts that took place in Milan's courthouse on Monday are susceptible to putting at risk the independence of the judges' decisions, which it is up to them alone to take," said the statement.
The statement, which added that the decision taken by the Milan court respected the law, was signed by the judges on the CSM and the non-magistrate members nominated by the centre-left Democratic Party.
The CSM members nominated by the PdL did not sign it.
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