Berlusconi to make return as he claims senate seat
PUBLIC LIFE: Berlusconi
FORMER Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is making his return to Italy’s parliament, just in time to celebrate his 86th birthday.
Mr Berlusconi won a seat in the senate nearly a decade after being banned from holding public office after a tax fraud conviction.
Mr Berlusconi has made personal comebacks a hallmark of Italian politics for three decades.
He was re-elected to Italy’s upper house with more than 50 per cent of the votes on Sunday in the northern city of Monza, where he also owns a soccer team that was recently promoted to Italy’s top division.
Revenge
“Regaining a seat in the senate was a sort of personal revenge for Berlusconi, after all the judicial problems he went through,” said Massimiliano Panarari, political analyst at Rome’s Mercatorum University.
In 2013, the senate expelled him because of a tax fraud conviction stemming from his media business, and he was banned from holding public office for six years.
Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia centre-right party, which pioneered populist politics in Italy in the 90s, gained just over eight per cent in the vote, dominated by Giorgia Meloni.
A MAN accused of stealing over €400 and sticking it in his underpants has been remanded in custody after bail was refused.
Michael Rapple (50) is accused of the theft of €475 in cash from the Spar store on the Rockville Road in Blackrock, Dublin on Monday afternoon.
The court heard that the accused was detained by a Detective Garda who allegedly witnessed him attempting to conceal the cash by “stuffing it into his underpants”.
The accused, of Kilcross Drive in Sandyford, south Dublin, appeared before an evening sitting of Dublin’s District Court yesterday.
The court heard that a man dressed in black entered the store and brandished a “nine-inch” blade — before threatening staff.
The accused is alleged to have “demanded” the cash and to have fled the scene on a bicycle. Mr Rapple is charged with robbery under Section 14 of the Criminal Justice Act — an offence that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Giving evidence of arrest, charge and caution, Detective Garda Liam McGee of Blackrock Garda Station said the accused made “no reply” when charged at 2.38pm yesterday.
Gardai were alerted to the scene by a panic alarm, the court heard.
Detective Garda McGee then told the court that he was patrolling the area when he saw a man running and holding what appeared to be “cash in one hand” and a “package in the other”.
Det Garda McGee said he identified himself to the man and the accused then “attempted to conceal” what he was holding by
“stuffing it into his underpants”.
Cash
The Det Garda told the court that the accused allegedly told him that the cash was money he had earned “from selling drugs”.
The accused is alleged to have had in his possession a quantity of cannabis and tablets.
The money seized at the scene came to the value of €415 — while a further €60 was found outside the front of the Spar shop having allegedly been dropped by the accused.
Mr Rapple was arrested at the scene and taken to Blackrock Garda Station, where he was questioned.
The court heard that following further enquiries gardai recovered “high quality” CCTV footage that allegedly showed the “partially visible”