Italy's embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will face the first in a series of four trials against him on Monday.

It is unlikely that Berlusconi may be present at Monday's resumption of the trial in which he is accused of tax fraud, Italian pundits have informed.

Berlusconi and executives of his private broadcaster, Mediaset, are accused of having inflated the price paid for acquiring television rights via offshore companies controlled by the Prime Minister, in order to falsely declare smaller revenues.

Berlusconi, together with his fellow accused, has denied any wrongdoing.

The trial was suspended last year because of a controversial law passed by the government providing the Prime Minister and others with immunity from prosecution while in office. However, Berlusconi's immunity was subsequently partially removed.

On April 6 the Italian Prime Minister will face the culmination of trials against him -for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute and trying to cover it up.