Berlusconi 'has Proof' Mills is Innocent

David Mills, estranged husband of the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, was yesterday at the centre of Italy's general election campaign when the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, used his last press conference before polling to unveil what he said was irrefutable proof of both men's innocence.

Prosecutors in Milan have asked for Mr Mills to be put on trial with Mr Berlusconi, who they claim bribed the British lawyer to withhold evidence from the Italian courts in the 1990s. Both men deny the charges, which are to be examined at a committal hearing starting on June 5.

The case revolves around a $600,000 payment made from the Bahamas to an account managed by Mr Mills in Switzerland. Waving a sheaf of 15 documents, Mr Berlusconi said they proved that the money came not from him but from a Neapolitan shipowner, Diego Attanasio. He said his lawyers had asked prosecutors to look into the new evidence, but they had refused. Their decision to press for his indictment and that of Mr Mills, knowing the documents existed, represented "a very serious instance of the indisputable use of the law for political ends".

The $600,000 payment was made by an offshore trust of which Mr Attanasio was the beneficiary. But the shipowner has denied knowledge of the payment and told prosecutors he gave power of attorney over the trust's accounts to Mr Mills.

In an interview in Legal Business magazine this week, the British lawyer said he had found "a piece of clinching evidence" that the money came from Mr Attanasio. "I have 15 pieces of evidence and need one more to establish that the $600,000 came from Diego Attanasio."

Mr Mills and Mr Berlusconi risk indictment on other charges, which they also deny.