MEP in Mafia-link trial ‘desperate’ to get life back

Date: 06/06/02

By Martin Banks

ITALIAN MEP Marcello Dell'Utri, who is on trial for alleged links with the Mafia, says he is 'desperate' to clear his name.

Dell'Utri, a close friend of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said the trial, in Palermo, Sicily's capital, had cast a 'cloud' over his life.

The proceeding, in which he faces charges of colluding with the Mafia, started four-and-a-half years ago.

A verdict is expected by the end of the year but Dell'Utri says he hopes it is concluded before then.

'Being the subject of such allegations is obviously very unpleasant and I desperately want to clear my name so I can get back to work full-time and lead a normal life,' he said.

Dell'Utri, who is also a senator in the Italian parliament, says he spends an average two days per week attending the trial.

'That is why I spend so little time in the European Parliament,' he explained. 'While all this is going on I am obviously unable to do my job as an MEP properly.'

His comments come after a Sicilian judge recently ruled that there are no grounds for charging Berlusconi and Dell'Utri with complicity in the murder ten years ago of Italy's two top anti-Mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, and their escorts.

Dell'Utri, who has a son and three daughters, says he is confident he will be cleared of the separate charge of alleged association with the Mafia.

'I know I have done nothing wrong,' he said. 'I have never had any links with the Mafia.

'Indeed, like every right-minded person in Italy, I despise the Mafia.' Dell'Utri, meanwhile, is still waiting to hear if his parliamentary immunity from prosecution will be lifted in a separate case.

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón wants the Forza Italia deputy's immunity waived so he can face tax evasion charges in Spain.

• MEPs meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg will next week be asked to vote on a report which calls for a shake-up in the way immunity waiver requests are handled.

The report, by UK Liberal Andrew Duff, says the system needs clarifying and must be made more transparent.

Italian MEP Marcello Dell'Utri, who is on trial for alleged links with the Mafia, says he is desperate to clear his name.