Trials and allegations involving Silvio Berlusconi persons (including Silvio Berlusconi) for having committed false accounting and embezzlement. If the embezzlement charges would be proven by the court, this part of guilt would however be granted impunity due to a 1988 amnesty for the crime. First Court: A "Prima facie" case was issued, but the magistrate decided to drop the charges. The state attorney refused to file the case and appealed against the ruling.<br> Appeal Court: statute of limitations expired before the appeal was completed so Silvio Berlusconi was acquitted. First Court: On 26 September 2005, Berlusconi was acquitted because the new law on false accounting makes
Helmut Kohl Kohl as "a visionary leader and statesman" and said he had "great admiration for Chancellor Kohl's steady leadership when the Cold War came to a peaceful end and the re-unification of Germany became possible." Flags were flown at half-staff at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker lauded Kohl as "a great European." He called Kohl "my mentor, my friend, the very essence of Europe." The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, called Kohl "a friend and a statesman, who helped to reunify Europe." Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush lauded Kohl as "a true