Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is off to the clink for four years for tax evasion—pending appeals and whatnot, of course. [RT]

  • http://twitter.com/BKImbecile Brooklyn Imbecile

    I wonder what percentage of Italy’s jails consist of scientists and politicians.

    • info

      0% scientists – because they have all gone abroad to be able to do any actual work;

      0% politicians – because they set up laws in order not to be possibly jailed in any case

  • Finnagain

    I predict the whatnot here will drag on for many years.

    • http://www.jimdraws.com Thorzdad

       NPR reported that it may be years before his appeal is even heard. So, he’ll be walking free until then. If it ever happens.

      So, this is pretty much a judgement without penalty.

  • http://www.soulrecycler.com/ Patter Light Grey

    I did read that the limitations that will come with whatnot will let him skate.
    He is a greed scumbag. We all know how much justice he can buy.
    A very sad shame for humanity.

  • RadioSilence

    4 years reduced to 1 year because of anti prison crowding legislation, and of course the appeals process will drag on so long the statute of limitations will run out.

    The news said that Italian law has become much more lenient toward white-collar crime in the last 20 years due to laws brought in by… guess who? :)

    • ChicagoD

      Wait. In Italy the statute of limitations can run out *during* prosecution? Because in the U.S. (and I am pretty sure the U.K.) the statute of limitations limits when prosecutions can be brought, but once they are . . . game on.

      • RadioSilence

        I really don’t know how it works to be honest.

        • Stooge

          It doesn’t work at all: that’s the point.
          In countries with legal systems that at least aspire to the appearance of sanity, the statute of limitations governs the maximum allowable time between when a crime occurs and when the authorities can decide they want to do something about it (an arrest, pressing charges or arraignment depending on jurisdiction).
          In Italy things are different: the clock doesn’t get stopped when the trial starts, but keeps on ticking all they way through the trial and two levels of appeals.
          As a consequence, until a few years ago, around 100,000 trials and about 10,000 convictions would magically disappear every year. Obviously, those numbers are far worse now because Berlusconi decided to reduce the statute of limitations on a broad range of his favourite crimes.

  • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

    Lol.

    He won’t go to prison.  This is a country that I hear (i.e. anecdotally, but from Italians, at least) police regularly extort money from people for imaginary charges. Place is pretty corrupt from what I understand.

    Some € in the right persons pocket and he’ll walk.  And he knows a lot of the right people.  The corrupt ones.

    • info

      Police corruption is actually quite uncommon in Italy – basically because paying off _aynone_ to get things done is considered normal, hence everything has been already taken care of well before reaching police level.

      • elix

        Exactly. If it goes to the cops, then you have to bribe the cops on top of the people you should’ve done a better job of bribing before the cops got involved.

        Or something. I know very little about Italy except that most of the food-based stereotypes I was taught are wrong.

  • pitkataistelu

    Yeah so,

    Berlusconi passed a law that makes it impossible to put anyone over 70 in prison. Berlusconi is 76. QED.

  • s2redux

    “Italy’s longest-serving premier held office for three terms, totaling nine-and-a-half years. He will likely be better remembered for his association with a string of high-profile sex scandals than for his political career.”

    Winning!

  • James Kelly

    He’ll never serve it. Even though the Milan judges are seen as left wing and out to get Silvio he probably has “the goods” on all of them.

  • jdollak

    Tax AVOISION.  You say evasion.  I say avoision.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/GLM7OD3M4VH46HDVQBLO3TWEU4 Brendan

      Has Berlusconi evaded more taxes than Jimmy Carr has avoided?

      • Jason Lane

        Yes

  • http://twitter.com/rivoduck Andrea Rivetti

    He will not serve, he can appeal and keep the trial going. If things get really hairy for him he can always move abroad before law can prevent him to do so.
    What’s significative is that he also got barred from any public office for five years so I am sure I will not find his name on the next ballot I’ll see :-)