Italian prosecutors denounced today a new law that protects Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi from prosecution and urged judges trying him for corruption to challenge the measure in Italy's supreme court.
The immunity law was approved by parliament last week, allowing Mr Berlusconi to miss today's scheduled hearing of his three-year-old corruption trial.
The prime minister's defence lawyer told the judges that the legislation meant they had to halt the trial, but the public prosecutor, Ms Ilda Boccassini, urged them to question the validity of the law in Italy's constitutional court.
"This clearly and totally violates the principle that everyone is equal in front of the law," Ms Boccassini said, backed up by veteran Milan prosecutor Mr Gherardo Colombo.
Mr Berlusconi is accused of bribing judges to win favourable rulings in a 1980s takeover battle. He denies the charges.
With a verdict looming just as Italy prepared to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union, parliament rammed through the highly controversial immunity law in near record time, offering legal shelter to Italy's top five officials.
Mr Berlusconi, who is the only one of the elite five currently on trial, showed up in court last week and launched a scathing attack on his accusers, saying they had orchestrated the case to pour "tonnes of mud" on his reputation.
In a hard-hitting riposte on today, Ms Boccassini said she was the one who had suffered from the mud-slinging and added that she received "incredible threats" on a daily basis from people who had "probably" voted for Mr Berlusconi. Opponents of Italy's new immunity law have started a campaign to force a referendum on the issue, looking to raise the 500,000 signatures needed to call a public plebiscite.
"We must wage war in Italy to ensure that there is equal justice for all," communist leader Mr Marco Rizzo told reporters. Supporters of the legislation say it revives an earlier law, and brings the country into line with other European states. Ms Boccassini said today that if the trial was frozen, Mr Berlusconi would probably never face a final verdict because a statute of limitations in the case is triggered in 2006.
The immunity cover stays in place for as long as Mr Berlusconi is prime minister. His term in office is due to expire in 2006.
The Milan court is expected to decide on Monday whether to query the law in the constitutional court. Even if it does, a ruling would take months to arrive, leaving Mr Berlusconi free from legal problems during Italy's six-month EU presidency.