In a letter to the judges acting in the first part of the trial at the Tribunal in Milan, Silvio Berlusconi has said that he will be unable to take part in the Mediaset hearing, despite having maintained over the last few weeks that he would be available, even though, he added, he would have liked to have made some statements. "Unexpected and well-known events have supervened in the light of which I have had to change my plans" said the Prime Minister in his missive, in which he then urges the court to go ahead despite his absence "because my lawyers have told me that procedural matters alone will be dealt with today". The Prime Minister also stressed that he would have liked to give evidence, but had been dissuaded by his defence team who had explained that speaking in court would not be procedurally correct at this moment in time.