With less than 24 hours to go, the channel was served with a summons by Mr Dell'Utri's lawyers.

ECONOMIST: Satire in Italy

The play accuses Mr Dell'Utri, a senator and former head of Mr Berlusconi's advertising company, of drug trafficking and involvement with organised crime.

ECONOMIST: Satire in Italy

Mr Dell'Utri, who was returned to parliament again in April's election, is appealing against a nine-year prison sentence for association with the Mafia that was handed down in December 2004.

ECONOMIST: Italy and the Mafia

Voters, it is notable, were quite happy to elect to the new European Parliament his closest confidant, Marcello Dell'Utri, whom magistrates in Sicily have accused of colluding with the Mafia.

ECONOMIST: Italy

Mr Dell'Utri is on trial for alleged Mafia links.

ECONOMIST: Satire in Italy

Prosecutors hope to find an answer during appeal proceedings that have just begun in Palermo, in a case involving Marcello Dell'Utri, a close associate of Mr Berlusconi and one of the founders of his Forza Italia political party.

ECONOMIST: Italy and the Mafia