Italy’s billionaire former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was in legal trouble again on Monday, suspected of exaggerating an eye infection to delay one trial against him and facing fresh charges of bribery.
The 76-year-old has been in hospital in Milan since Friday, but prosecutors have said it is all a ruse to put off the onslaught as several cases finally begin to catch up with him.
The drama intensified when lawmakers from Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party marched into the Milan court building in protest.
They called for Berlusconi’s trial for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute and abusing the powers of his office to be suspended.
“I think there is a judicial plot against Berlusconi,” said Laura Ravetto, a senior party official who joined the protest.
The 200 or so Berlusconi supporters also sang the national anthem outside the court.
Judges had ordered medical experts to be sent into the clinic where Berlusconi is staying, after prosecutors said an eye infection was not a legitimate excuse for suspending a trial.
The experts later concluded his absence was justified and the court decided to adjourn the trial to today to set a new calendar of hearings.
The trial, which began almost exactly two years ago, had already been put on hold on Friday because Berlusconi said he was suffering uveitis, an irritation of the uvea.
His doctors say Berlusconi also has hypertension.
The court was to have heard the prosecution’s sentencing requests on Monday.
A verdict in the trial on the alleged crimes dating back to 2010 when Berlusconi was still prime minister had been expected this month, but that is now in doubt.
The flamboyant media baron and three-time prime minister is accused of having sex for money with the then 17-year-old Karima el-Mahroug, an exotic dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer.
Berlusconi risks up to three years in prison on that charge and up to 12 years for allegedly putting pressure on police to have her released from custody when she was arrested for petty theft.
However, he is unlikely to spend any actual time behind bars as the law is generally lenient for convicts over 70.
Both Berlusconi and el-Mahroug deny having sex.
Berlusconi is also appealing a tax fraud conviction linked to his business empire. That hearing was allowed to go ahead on Saturday and a ruling is expected this month.
Last week the scandal-fraught billionaire was convicted over the publication of a police wiretap of a rival politician in a newspaper he owns and sentenced to one year in jail.
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