Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may be tried separately from other defendants in a tax fraud trial involving his Mediaset media empire because of his continuous "non-attendance" in court, the judges said on Monday.
The trial focuses on possible irregularities in the sale of film rights by the premier's company which might have been used to create illicit funds.
Berlusconi did not show up when the trial resumed Monday because of an unrelated medical examination to assess the extent of injuries in an attack by a mentally unstable man in Milan last month.
His lawyers said the premier will be unable to attend as well the next scheduled hearing on Feb.1 because of his planned state visit to Israel, Italy's AGI news agency said. The trial was thus adjourned to March 1.
But presiding judge Edoardo d'Avossa said Berlusconi's non- attendance in court meant that his position could be separated from the other
defendants in the trial.
The trial is one of the two involving Berlusconi which resumed after the high court repealed in October a law granting the prime minister immunity from prosecution.
The premier is involved as well in another recently resumed trial, where he is accused of bribing British tax lawyer David Mills to perjure
himself in two trials in the late 1990s.
Italy has lately been rocked by a fierce battle between the prime minister and the judiciary.
Although the premier is not attending his trials, his government has filed two bills in parliament which critics say were tailor-made to end his judicial problems.
One of the bills would cap trial lengths to a maximum of 10 years. The other would enshrine the principle of 'legitimate impediment' so that top officials would be legally entitled not to attend trials.
The government is also preparing a revised version of the immunity law and trying to resurrect parliamentary immunity, scrapped after the early 1990s political bribe scandals.
Berlusconi, who denies wrongdoing and has always claimed he is the victim of a politically inspired witch hunt led by "communist" judges, says the bills are aimed at improving justice for all.