Italian
former prime minister, who also faces accusations of sex with underage
prostitute, can appeal twice more against ruling
guardian.co.uk,
Reuters in Milan, Friday 26 October 2012
Silvio Berlusconi and his co-defendants were also told to pay damages provisionally set at €10m. Photograph: David Gadd/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd |
An Italian
court has sentenced Silvio Berlusconi to four years in jail for tax fraud in
connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television
company.
The former
Italian prime minister has the right to appeal against the ruling two more
times before the sentence becomes definitive and will not be jailed unless the
final appeal is upheld. Prosecutors had asked for a jail sentence of three
years and eight months.
The court
also ordered damages provisionally set at €10m to be paid by Berlusconi and his
co-defendants to tax authorities.
The ruling
comes two days after Berlusconi, 76, confirmed he would not run in next year's
elections as the leader of his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party.
A separate
trial over accusations that Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage prostitute
is currently being heard in Milan. He denies all charges against him.
The
four-time prime minister and other Mediaset executives stood accused of
inflating the price paid for TV rights via offshore companies controlled by
Berlusconi, and skimming off part of the money to create illegal slush funds.
Angelino
Alfano, secretary of the PDL, said the ruling proved once again "judicial
persecution" of the media-magnate, while a political rival, Antonio Di
Pietro, a former magistrate, hailed the decision, saying: "The truth has
been exposed."
The court
acquitted the Mediaset chairman and long-term Berlusconi friend Fedele
Confalonieri, for whom prosecutors had sought a sentence of three years and
four months.
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