Dell’Utri court case could be delayed

P(See related) (ANSA) – Rome, April 14 – The Italian court case involving Mafia-related charges against former Senator Marcello Dell’Utri, arrested in Beirut on the weekend, could be postponed after his defence lawyers pleaded illness on Monday.BRA final ruling by the supreme Court of Cassation on Dell’Utri’s appeal of a seven-year jail term for Mafia links was expected Tuesday.BRHowever, Dell’Utri is now under arrest in Beirut, where he was found after disappearing from Italy, and could be extradited pending a formal request by the Italian government.BRMeanwhile, two of his lawyers have said they are too ill to attend court, which means the case could be postponed until July. Massimo Krogh and Giuseppe Di Peri both say they are unwell and have produced doctor’s certificates attesting to their illness although court officials could ask for further assessments.BRDell’Utri, once a close aide to three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi, did not face a court hearing in Beirut Monday but could remain in custody pending an Italian extradition request, said senior prosecutor Samir Hammud. Italy has 30 days to issue an extradition request under a bilateral accord, he added. The 72-year-old co-founder of Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party allegedly fled Italy ahead of a likely jail conviction for Mafia association.BRAccused of acting as ambassador between the Cosa Nostra Mafia in his native Sicily and Berlusconi’s party, Dell’Utri was detained in Lebanon over the weekend after Italian authorities issued an Interpol arrest warrant. In a statement to ANSA last Friday, Dell’Utri said that he was having medical tests after heart surgery, did not intend to evade authorities, and that he would appear on Tuesday for the supreme court final decision.BRHis original conviction came when a Palermo court found that Dell’Utri sealed “a pact of protection” with Cosa Nostra boss Stefano Bontade on Berlusconi’s behalf at a meeting in May 1974 – a meeting that the court said “formed the genesis of the relationship that linked the businessman (Berlusconi) and the Mafia with Dell’Utri’s mediation”.BRBerlusconi employed a Mafia boss and killer allegedly recommended by Dell’Utri, the late Vittorio Mangano, as an alleged stable manager in the mid 1970s – but in reality, to protect his children from kidnappings that were then rampant in Italy.BRDell’Utri is also the former head of the media magnate’s advertising arm and is credited with creating the three-time premier’s centre-right party, Forza Italia, in 1993, six months before it swept to victory in general elections.BRAccording to prosecutors, Dell’Utri had been considering since last fall where to flee if he lost his case in the Court of Cassation.BR/P
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