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Silvio Berlusconi was dapper as ever last week — so sleek and smooth in his double-breasted suit, in fact, you could almost forget the Italian Prime Minister was in court defending himself against bribery charges. He barely broke a sweat during 50 minutes of "spontaneous remarks" in a stuffy, packed courtroom, even as he became the first sitting Prime Minister ever to testify at his own criminal trial. Listening just a few feet from the billionaire leader was another cool — though far more casually clad — customer. For this historic court date, lead prosecutor Ilda Boccassini's usual uniform of a light blue denim jacket and white tennis shoes could be seen peeking out from her black magistrate's robe.

Beyond her sartorial choices, there is nothing casual about the 53-year-old prosecutor. Boccassini has busted Mafia killers and crooked judges, and had run-ins with colleagues — once being reprimanded by her boss for "individualism ... and unwillingness to work in a group." Now, the diminutive Naples native is trying to reel in the biggest fish of all. Berlusconi is accused in an alleged 1980s plot to bribe judges to scuttle a business rival's takeover of the state-owned food conglomerate SME. The Prime Minister has denied any wrongdoing, saying the charges amount to a political coup attempt by leftist magistrates looking to undo his electoral success. Renato Schifani, Senate leader for the Prime Minister's Forza Italia party, told Time that Boccassini is one of the key leaders of an "anti-Berlusconi crusade" in the Milan magistrate's office. In reference to the prosecutor's trademark red hair, Schifani quipped: "She's even redder on the inside."

Instead of trying to rebut the charges against him, Berlusconi used his trial appearance to cast shadows and spread blame. He said former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato knew about a bribe linked to the SME deal. He also insinuated that

European Commission President Romano Prodi, then head of Italy's public monopoly-holding company, was ready to accept a suspiciously low price to sell the food empire to Berlusconi's rival. Amato and Prodi denied the allegations, but the real target may have been the leadership of the country's current center-left opposition. Italy assumes the six-month rotating E.U. presidency in July, just about the time the trial is set to conclude. A conviction in the midst of all that international attention and institutional responsibility would be an abject humiliation for Berlusconi. His remarks may have been a sampling of the open political war he is set to launch on the European stage if the case arrives at a verdict. And his concern about the outcome of the trial may be reflected in his big new push last week for a law to grant immunity from prosecution to top elected officials while in office.

Boccassini appears unfazed by the high stakes. Following Berlusconi's appearance, she chatted with colleagues and smoked Merit cigarettes outside her nondescript office in the main Milan courthouse. Moments later, she refused a Time request for an interview with a brusque shake of the head. Niceties are not her style. "She's the kind of person you'll pass 10 times in the hall and she won't even acknowledge you," says one fellow prosecutor. "Then the 11th time, she'll give you a hug. She's not an easy person, but she's about the best investigator in the field." Colleagues dismiss charges of partisan motivation, noting her roots fighting organized crime.

After helping unravel Mob connections in Milan in the 1980s, and later moving to Sicily to convict the killers of anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone, who was a close friend, Boccassini returned north to eventually team up with anti-corruption prosecutor Gherardo Colombo in the SME case.

In a related bribery trial, the prosecutors won a series of convictions last month, including an 11-year sentence against Berlusconi's former lawyer and Italian Defense Minister Cesare Previti. That verdict was a wake-up call for the Prime Minister, who had tried to avoid dignifying the trial with his presence. Now he'll be working the case on two fronts: showing up more regularly at court in Milan, and pushing for legislation in Rome that could avoid a verdict altogether. Whatever ground his opponents in the capital might cede, his nemesis up north won't give an inch.

• JEFF ISRAELY | Milan
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