貝盧斯科尼性醜聞纏身 將出庭審訊

An Italian judge has ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial in April on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office, although there seemed no immediate risk the scandal would force him out。

Following weeks of scandal that have shaken his struggling center-right government, trial was set on Tuesday to start in a criminal court in Milan on April 6, according to a statement from the office of the city's chief judge。

Berlusconi is not obliged to appear in person before the panel of three judges on that day, nor is there any legal obstacle to his continuing to hold office throughout any trial proceedings, which could take years before any conviction。

Throughout several other legal cases, the 74-year-old premier has kept the loyalty of lieutenants in his own Party, which he set up after making his fortune in business. There has been no open push from his own allies for him to stand down。

"We did not expect anything different," Piero Longo, one of Berlusconi's lawyers who sits in parliament for the ruling PDL party, told reporters after the decision was announced。

Yet the decision is perhaps the most serious political blow so far to Berlusconi, who has faced mounting public criticism as he tries to shore up a precarious majority in parliament。

A survey this week in the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper showed that almost 50 percent of Italians believe the accusations against him are true, although as many believe that even if he is guilty, he will not be punished。

"He should resign because this situation has become unbearable," said Pierluigi Bersani, head of the opposition Democratic Party。

But Justice Minister Angelino Alfano retorted: "What happened to someone being presumed innocent?"一位意大利法官要求總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼四月份出庭接受審訊，他被指控與未成年少女進行性交易以及濫用職權。但是目前看起來這則醜聞還不會很快將貝盧斯科尼趕下臺。

在過去幾週中，該醜聞已經使正在艱難掙扎的中右聯盟政府搖搖欲墜了。而一份來自於米蘭市審判長辦公室的聲明則無異於雪上加霜。該聲明稱，法院週二已做出裁決，將於4月6日在米蘭的一個刑事法庭中啓動審判。

法院並不強行要求貝盧斯科尼4月6日親自出庭，接受由三位法官組成的陪審團的審訊。而且在審判程序進行過程中，不會有任何阻止貝盧斯科尼繼續擔任總理的法律障礙。從啓動審判到做出最終判決可能需要幾年的時間。

在之前的其他幾宗法律案件中，貝盧斯科尼的黨內官員都顯示了對這位74歲總理的忠誠。貝盧斯科尼做生意發財後就組建了自己的政黨，現在並沒有來自該政黨的公開要求貝盧斯科尼下臺的呼聲。

在該裁決宣佈之後，貝盧斯科尼的律師之一、人民自由黨成員、議員皮耶羅•隆戈告訴記者說：“這在我們意料之中。”

但是這個裁決可能是迄今爲止在政治上對貝盧斯科尼最大的打擊，近年來貝盧斯科尼試圖在議會鞏固自己搖搖欲墜的政黨力量的同時招來了公衆愈演愈烈的批評聲。

左傾的《意大利共和報》本週進行的一項調查顯示，近50%的意大利人相信對貝盧斯科尼的指控是確有其事。但是也有50%的人認爲即使貝盧斯科尼有罪，他也不會受到什麼懲罰。

反對黨派民主黨領導人皮耶路易吉•貝爾薩尼說：“他應該下臺，因爲形勢已經變得難以控制了。”

但是司法部部長安傑利諾•阿爾法諾反駁說：“那樣的話人們會問：那個自以爲無罪的人怎麼了？”