RAI drama chief reinstated

Sacca suspended after phone tap revealed

By NICK VIVARELLI

Berlusconi

Italo pubcaster RAI’s drama topper was reinstated to his powerful post today, after being forced to step down last year when leaked phone taps revealed that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had tried to persuade him to cast four actresses he knew.

Agostino Sacca left his RAI Fiction office in December pending an internal probe. A Rome court ruled that RAI had kept Sacca in limbo for too long and must take him back.

The Sacca/Berlusconi scandal erupted after leftist daily La Repubblica published a transcript of a corruption probe phone tap in which Berlusconi asked Sacca to “raise the boss’s morale” by casting the actresses.

La Repubblica also posted the audio of the leaked phone call on its website.

Sacca and Berlusconi, long known to have a close relationship, both claim no wrongdoing in the case in which charges have yet to be filed. Sacca’s lawyer has pointed out that Berlusconi’s protegees did not land any RAI Fiction roles.

RAI prexy Claudio Petruccioli reacted to the court order by calling Sacca “incompatible” with RAI and saying the pubcaster will appeal the court order.

However, it will ultimately be up to RAI’s board to decide Sacca’s future and with Berlusconi now back in power the chances of his getting the sack are slim.