Former Prime Minister Berlusconi on trial for bribing opposition lawmakers

According to a VNA correspondent in Italy, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will appear in court on February 11 for being accused of bribing an opposition senator in exchange for support for his faction, causing the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi to collapse in February 2008, paving the way for Berlusconi's third term as prime minister.

According to the Naples prosecutor's office, the agency conducting the investigation is codenamed "Operation Liberty" due to allegations by the centre-left that some of its senators were bribed to switch to Mr Berlusconi's centre-right from 2006 to 2008.

Silvio Berlusconi speaks outside his home in Rome after being expelled from the Senate. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Senator Sergio De Gregorio received a total of 3 million euros through an intermediary of Mr Berlusconi to support him during the political turmoil in early 2008.

Before the investigation agency, Mr. De Gregorio declared that this amount included 2 million euros transferred into his account, the remaining 1 million was transferred as a donation to the Movement of Italians in the World, which Senator De Gregorio promoted.

Both Mr Berlusconi and Lavitola, the owner of Avanti newspaper, who was the intermediary in the transfer of the money, are due to appear before a Naples court. In addition to this case, former Senator De Gregorio is also being investigated in a number of other cases.

In another development, Italian Senate President Pietro Grasso has authorized Italy's state attorney general to represent the Senate as a civil party in the upcoming trial.

This has sparked protests from centre-right lawmakers, who say Mr Grasso, a prominent former anti-mafia prosecutor and member of the ruling Democratic Party, has seriously violated the Constitution.

Mr. Berlusconi is currently appealing his first-instance sentence of seven years in prison for having sex with an underage prostitute and abusing his power to cover it up.

In April 2014, the Milan Court will also decide whether he must perform community service as he requested, after the court sentenced him to one year for tax fraud in the business activities of the Mediaset media group he owns.

This is the first time a court has convicted billionaire Berlusconi in 20 years of lawsuits.

Because of this sentence, the Italian Senate voted to remove him from his seat as a member of parliament at the end of November 2013, not allowing him to travel abroad or run for office for 6 years./.

According to VNA