Berlusconi cleared of corruption charges
A Milan court today acquitted Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi of corruption charges – a major victory in the billionaire business baron’s decade-long battle with legal woes he blamed on left-wing prosecutors.
More than 24 hours after the 4 1-2 year-old trial went to the three-judge jury, Judge Francesco Castellano read the verdict to the court: acquittal on one count and a ruling that the statute of limitations had run out on the second corruption charge.
Throughout his trial, the billionaire media baron had maintained his innocence, insisting he was the victim of left-wing prosecutors.
“This closes 10 years of trials,” said Niccolo Ghedini, one of Berlusconi’s defence attorneys.
Castellano said Berlusconi was innocent of a charge that he had bribed judges in connection with the sale in the 1980s of the SME state food conglomerate. Prosecutors alleged Berlusconi wanted to stop the company from being sold to a rival top industrialist in Italy, Carlo De Benedetti.
The second corruption charge grew out of accusations Berlusconi had kept a different judge on his payroll in case of criminal charges against his business empire. Castellano said the statute of limitations had run out on that charge.
Ghedini said Berlusconi’s defence team would have preferred him to have a ruling on the second charge as well, rather than just the dismissal for time limitations.
In 1985, judges blocked the SME sale and ruled in favour of a group of magnates including Berlusconi. But the sale never came off, and the food group was later sold off in parcels.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of eight years for conviction on both counts.
Berlusconi didn’t show up for the verdict. Italy doesn’t require defendants to attend their trials, and he came only three times to hearings during the 4 1/2 year long trial.
