Berlusconi given elderly center community service
Print Edition
FORMER Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi must spend at least four hours a week in the service of the elderly to repay society for his tax fraud conviction, the first sentence against him ever confirmed by Italy’s highest court.
The one-year assignment, announced by a Milan court yesterday, curtails Berlusconi’s ability to participate in the upcoming European election campaign. The 77-year-old three-time former premier cannot run due to the conviction, but remains a political force as head of Forza Italia.
His lawyers, who petitioned for community service rather than house arrest, called the decision “balanced.”
On the eve of the announcement, Berlusconi met with Premier Matteo Renzi. Renzi needs Berlusconi’s backing on a constitutional reform to abolish the Senate.
“We are in a surreal situation because the person convicted is part of a political pact with the government,” Giuliano Ferraro, editor of il Foglio, said on Sky TG24.
The court said Berlusconi must spend most of his time in the Lombard region, where he lives, but gave permission to travel to Rome from Tuesday to Thursday each week.
He must spend at least four straight hours one day a week at an elderly center, the court said. The document did not identify the center, or specify what Berlusconi would do there.
Berlusconi was sentenced to four years for tax fraud, reduced to one year for a general amnesty. The community service order may eventually be reduced by 45 days.
He is on trial for political corruption in Naples and under investigation in Milan for witness tampering in trials relating to sex-fueled parties.
His appeal for a conviction for having paid for sex with a minor and using his influence to cover it up is set to be heard in June. He was sentenced to seven years in jail and given a lifetime political ban, but that has yet to be confirmed.
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