Milan court terminates Berlusconi corruption trial
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A MILAN court ended a corruption trial against Silvio Berlusconi yesterday, ruling the statute of limitations had run out on the case.
The ruling handed Italy's former premier another victory in a long string of judicial woes he has faced.
The billionaire media mogul wasn't in court when the three judges read out their verdict after about two hours of deliberation. Defendants in Italy are not required to attend their trials.
Berlusconi had denied any wrongdoing.
He was accused of paying a British lawyer David Mills US$600,000 to lie during two 1990s trials to shield the politician and his Fininvest holding company from charges related to his business dealings.
Berlusconi's lawyers successfully argued the case should be thrown out because the statute of limitation had run out.
It is "useless to comment," prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale said as he left the courtroom. Prosecutors had demanded conviction and a five-year sentence.
One of Berlusconi's lawyers, Piero Longo, indicated the defense team was less than elated with the decision because it would have preferred a verdict of acquittal, Sky TG24 TV said.
The ruling handed Italy's former premier another victory in a long string of judicial woes he has faced.
The billionaire media mogul wasn't in court when the three judges read out their verdict after about two hours of deliberation. Defendants in Italy are not required to attend their trials.
Berlusconi had denied any wrongdoing.
He was accused of paying a British lawyer David Mills US$600,000 to lie during two 1990s trials to shield the politician and his Fininvest holding company from charges related to his business dealings.
Berlusconi's lawyers successfully argued the case should be thrown out because the statute of limitation had run out.
It is "useless to comment," prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale said as he left the courtroom. Prosecutors had demanded conviction and a five-year sentence.
One of Berlusconi's lawyers, Piero Longo, indicated the defense team was less than elated with the decision because it would have preferred a verdict of acquittal, Sky TG24 TV said.
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