Spanish judge allows Berlusconi investigation

MADRID - A Spanish judge has opened the way for a criminal tax fraud investigation into Silvio Berlusconi by lifting immunity granted to him while he was Italian Prime Minister.

Judge Baltasar Garzon ruled that Berlusconi could now be included in the probe into tax fraud and illegal share dealing in Spanish television station Telecinco, which is controlled by the Italian billionaire's Mediaset group.

Berlusconi, already facing trial in Italy for alleged fraud at Mediaset, had the Spanish probe suspended after he became Prime Minister in 2001. Several of his former business partners are already on trial in Spain in the case.

Garzon is Spain's best-known judge and became famous by trying to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

In his ruling, he added that Berlusconi might seek fresh immunity on the grounds of becoming a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe rights watchdog. If so, Garzon said the Supreme Court should ask the Council of Europe to authorise the criminal probe.

Berlusconi already faces up to six years in jail for the Mediaset probe in Italy, which he says is politically motivated.

But he has managed to avoid imprisonment in at least seven previous graft trials, despite four guilty verdicts.

- REUTERS