Former Italian prime minister and businessman Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday refused to submit to a psychiatric examination as part of a criminal trial, considering this measure as humiliating in view of its merits.
A Milan court had decided Wednesday evening to give three experts, including a psychiatrist, 45 days to assess whether the state of health of the 84-year-old former head of government prohibited him from participating in this trial, as the asserted his lawyer.
"
The hypothesis of submitting myself to a wide and unlimited psychiatric expertise by the court shows, in view of what I have done in life in many sectors including business, sport and politics, an obvious prejudice against me which makes me easily understand what will be the outcome of this unfair trial,
”writes Mr. Berlusconi in a letter to the president of the tribunal, quoted by the media.
The "
Rubygate
"
scandal
This trial, entitled Ruby-ter, is the umpteenth part of the “
Rubygate
”
scandal
and the famous “
bunga-bunga
”
evenings
that Silvio Berlusconi organized with young women, paid, in his luxurious villa near Milan (north).
In this case, Mr. Berlusconi and 28 other people are being prosecuted for witness tampering and false testimony.
Read alsoItaly: Silvio Berlusconi briefly hospitalized for exams
This lawsuit relates generally to the payments made by Silvio Berlusconi to various people, young women and musicians who participated in his parties, in exchange for their silence. The state of health of the media mogul, 85 at the end of the month, who has made numerous hospital stays, among others for heart problems or the Covid-19, has resulted in the postponement of several hearings of this trial.
"
The decision to submit myself to an expertise, not only forensic but also psychiatric, seems out of all logic and incongruous in relation to my history and my present
", continues Mr. Berlusconi in his letter. "
I can not therefore accept such a decision which harms my history and my honor
", concluded the former Prime Minister requesting the continuation of the trial in his absence.
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