Mr. Berlusconi was banned from public office for 2 years.
The Italian Supreme Court on March 18 upheld Silvio Berlusconi's two-year ban from public office. This is the highest and final sentence related to his financial fraud scandals at the Mediaset group, which he owns.
Previously, in October 2013, the Milan Court of Appeal sentenced the former Italian Prime Minister to four years in prison for
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| Mr. Silvio Berlusconi speaks outside his home in Rome after being expelled from the Senate on November 27, 2013. (Source: AFP/TTXVN) |
Mr Berlusconi has since said he would rather serve his sentence through community service than prison. In April, a Milan court will decide whether to accept the three-time Italian prime minister's "proposal".
The Supreme Court's ruling comes two days after Mr Berlusconi said he "hoped" to stand in next May's European Parliament elections.
On March 18, the office of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano affirmed that the President of this country has no "plan" to pardon Mr. Berlusconi after he was convicted of financial fraud.
Earlier, on March 17, European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding confirmed that Mr. Berlusconi was not allowed to appear on the candidate list of the Forza Italia party, which he leads, in the European Parliament elections. This was the answer to the party's announcement that it would nominate Mr. Berlusconi despite his conviction.
A month after the Milan Court convicted Mr. Berlusconi in a remarkable event, because before that, no Italian court had been able to convict him despite many trials in the past 20 years, the country's Senate voted to oust the former Italian Prime Minister from Parliament, stripping him of his immunity from prosecution and banning him from running for election in Italy or the European Parliament for 6 years.
For his part, Mr. Berlusconi declared that he would not accept the verdict, affirming that he would still be determined to run for the European Parliament. Meanwhile, his lawyers plan to take the case to the Italian Constitutional Court to sue the verdict as "unconstitutional"./.
According to VNA
