ROME: Italy yesterday anxiously awaited a supreme court ruling on former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that could effectively end his parliamentary career. The court is set to decide whether to confirm a one-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for Berlusconi in a tax fraud case.
It would be the first definitive conviction in a 20-year legal saga for the three-time prime minister in which all charges against him have either been overturned or expired under the statute of limitations. The final appeal hearings began yesterday but one of Berlusconi’s lawyers told reporters that the actual verdict may come today or tomorrow. AFP
