Former Italian PM beats senator-bribing charge as case times out

A senator-bribing case against Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has timed out, a Naples appeals court ruled Thursday.

Berlusconi was initially sentenced in 2015 to three years in prison for bribing ex-senator Sergio De Gregorio with 3 million euros (about 3.2 million U.S. dollars) to switch sides and help topple the shaky coalition government of center-left premier Romano Prodi, which lasted from 2006-2008.

De Gregorio, who was elected senator with the small centrist Italy of Values party in 2006, switched to a coalition led by Berlusconi's center-right Forza Italia party the following year, and ultimately voted against Prodi in a 2008 confidence vote that marked the end of the center-left government.

Berlusconi's coalition won the general election that followed. The media mogul and former AC Milan owner became prime minister, serving until November 2011.

In 2013, he was found guilty of tax fraud at his Mediaset media empire and sentenced to four years in prison. However, three years were suspended thanks to an amnesty and he served the remainder doing community service in a retirement home.

Berlusconi is currently on trial in a separate witness-tampering case.

He stands accused of bribing showgirls, who took part in so-called "bunga bunga" orgies at his home in Arcore near Milan while he was prime minister, to testify in his favor when he stood trial on charges of paying Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahroug for sex while she was still underage. He was acquitted.

Prosecutors in the current trial say Berlusconi paid El Mahroug and other defence witnesses over 10 million euros for testimony that helped him avoid a conviction.

Thursday's ruling by the Naples appeals court comes as the octogenarian billionaire tries to re-enter the political fray as the head of his Forza Italia party, which is hovering at consensus of 12-13 percent, according to Ixe pollster.

Source: Xinhua