Italian judge drops some tax fraud charges against Berlusconi News
Italian judge drops some tax fraud charges against Berlusconi

[JURIST] An Italian judge has thrown out some tax fraud and false accounting charges against former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] because the statute of limitations has expired. Berlusconi and co-defendant David Mills [Guardian profile] will no longer have to face tax fraud and accounting charges related to events before the end of 1998 and fraud charges prior to July 1999. The charges stemmed from allegations [JURIST report] that, in deals struck between 1994 to 1999, Berlusconi's media empire Mediaset [corporate website] falsely reported broadcast royalties paid for US films, thus avoiding taxes totaling 125 billion old lire.

Charges against Berlusconi from 1999 still stand and prosecutors only have until November 2007 to complete the current trial against the former prime minister. Berlusconi has faced numerous criminal trials, but has never been found guilty. In September 2005 he was cleared of false accounting charges and in June 2005 he was acquitted on bribery charges [JURIST reports]. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN calls for UK, France and Israel to leave Egypt

On November 7, 1956, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution 1001, which called on the United Kingdom, France and Israel to pull all of their military forces out of Egypt. The Resolution came during the Suez Canal crisis, during which Israel invaded Egypt with the support of the U.K. and France, after Egyptian President Gamal Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Read Resolution 1001.