Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi called today for a corruption trial against him to be suspended and for the reintroduction of judicial immunity for parliamentarians.
After a momentous court appearance earlier this week, where Mr Berlusconi denied he bribed judges during a 1980s business deal, the prime minister said lawmakers had to be protected from politically motivated magistrates.
"I am acting not for any presumed personal interests but for those of the nation," he wrote in a letter to Corriere della Seranewspaper.
Mr Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, was stunned last week when his friend and close political ally Mr Cesare Previti was found guilty in a similar case and sentenced to 11 years in jail.
A guilty verdict against Mr Berlusconi, which might fall in the second half of the year when Italy holds the rotating EU presidency, would push the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.
European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi was a key player in the contested 1980s takeover saga and Mr Berlusconi accused him this week of acting against Italy's interests in the case.
Mr Prodi denied the charge and the row risks poisoning the upcoming presidency.