Former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi acquitted in corruption case


ROME (Reuters) – An Italian court on Thursday acquitted former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of bribing a witness in a 2013 underage prostitution case, giving the veteran politician a boost weeks after he returned to parliament.
Berlusconi, 86, was accused of paying Italian singer Mariano Apicella 157,000 euros ($162,000) to lie in a previous trial where he was accused of paying to have sex with a dancer from 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub.
Berlusconi, leader of the Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party which supports the newly installed government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was eventually acquitted in the case.
He pleaded not guilty in the ensuing corruption trial and Rome prosecutor Roberto Felici told the court on Thursday the charges should be dropped.
The judges agreed and also acquitted Apicella of taking bribes, also exonerating him from the perjury allegations because the deadline for a verdict had passed.
“It was an impeccable decision because there was no evidence of corrupt deals,” Berlusconi’s lawyer, Franco Coppi, told reporters, adding that his client had called him to express his satisfaction with the verdict.
Apicella was a regular guest singer at many of Berlusconi’s so-called Bunga Bunga parties that sparked the scandal contributing to the media mogul’s fall as prime minister in 2011, marking the end of his fourth government.
Berlusconi was eventually expelled from parliament in 2013 after his conviction in a tax evasion case. He won an upper house Senate seat in September after his ban on elective office expired.
The defense said Apicella had received monthly contributions from Berlusconi since 2002 for fees or donations, unrelated to the charges in court.
The trial in Rome is one of three interconnected cases that were prosecuted in different cities for territorial jurisdiction reasons.
In another case pending before a court in Milan, Berlusconi is accused of bribing 24 witnesses, mostly young guests at his parties. Prosecutors in May requested that he be jailed for six years. Berlusconi has denied the charge and a verdict is not expected until January 2023.
Last year, a court in Siena acquitted Berlusconi of allegedly bribing another witness from his parties. Prosecutors have appealed the decision, but no new trial date has been set.



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