Berlusconi escapes fraud charges - again

Silvio Berlusconi, the Houdini of the Italian legal system, has done it again. The former prime minister and good friend of Tony Blair was cleared yesterday by a Milan court on a charge of false accounting back in the 1980s, before he entered politics. And here's the 'Berlusconi twist': he was cleared because allegations against him did not constitute false accounting under changes to the law made in 2002 - when Berlusconi was in power.

Critics said when the law was passed that it was tailor-made to help Berlusconi, who has faced several false book-keeping charges relating to various business deals over the years. Yesterday, those critics were proved right. The court deliberated just five minutes before clearing Berlusconi of the charges, which related to his attempt to purchase the SME state food conglomerate.

Berlusconi has faced 96 trials, mainly on charges of bribery and fraud, in the 13 years since he entered politics. And he has always got off: he has either been acquitted or cases have been dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

The changes to the false accounting law, from which he benefited yesterday, partly decriminalised the charge but also reduced the statute of limitations for which it could be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, in a bid to get back the premiership which he lost in 2006, Berlusconi is pressing for early elections following the fall of Romano Prodi's centre-left government last week. He is refusing to cooperate with President Giorgio Napolitano's proposal that a transitional government, led by Senate president Franco Marini, might push through electoral law reform.