March 8, 2013 -- Updated 1220 GMT (2020 HKT)
Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to a year in prison by a Milan court
over the publication of an illegally-obtained wiretap in his brother's
newspaper. FULL STORY
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WHY ITALIANS KEEP VOTING FOR 'IL CAVALIERE'
March 7, 2013 -- Updated 1555 GMT (2355 HKT)
Back in contention: Silvio Berlusconi delivers a speech at a rally in Rome on February 7, 2013.
HIDE CAPTION
'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Silvio Berlusconi will appeal the verdict
- NEW: His lawyer says the case shows judicial bias against Berlusconi
- The former prime minister was accused of publishing a rival's wiretapped conversation
- Berlusconi's brother also was sentenced to prison
The conviction comes less than two weeks after Berlusconi came in a seemingly improbable second among voters as he tried to win back his old job.
Whether Berlusconi, 76,
will ever set foot in prison is questionable. Berlusconi has been
charged and convicted before but has never served time. Previous charges
have either been overturned on appeal or dismissed because the statute
of limitations had expired.
Berlusconi's lawyer, Piero Longo, said he will appeal.
"We are not surprised by
the verdict because of the judiciary bias against our client, which is
proven here by the lack of evidence against him in this case," Longo
told CNN.
The former prime minister
is currently appealing his conviction last year on tax fraud charges
relating to the sale of film rights by his media company, Mediaset. He
is also on trial over allegations he paid for sex with an underage
prostitute. A decision in that case is could come as early as March 18.
Details of the case
The case involves
publication of details from a 2005 conversation between Piero Fassino --
a political rival of Berlusconi's -- and the former chairman of an
insurance group that at the time was close to taking over a large
Italian bank. The takeover could have created a rival to Berlusconi's
Finnivest conglomerate.
The transcript --
published in a newspaper run by Berlusconi's brother, Paolo -- appeared
to show Fassino, as head of the center-left opposition, had used his
political position to help the insurance group take over Banco Nazionale
del Lavoro. The ensuing scandal, which caused the deal to collapse, was
widely viewed as an effort to discredit Fassino.
The conversation was
recorded by Italian financial crimes investigators, according to
prosecutors, who argued Berlusconi bribed someone to obtain the
recordings, then broke the law by publishing parts of them.
Berlusconi has denied listening to the recordings or ordering their publication.
Fassino issued a statement lauding the court's decision.
"This is a ruling that
restores truth and justice and confirms the judicial system, despite
conscious criticism and mocking of the system for years, in a political
campaign to vilify and delegitimize it," he said.
Jail time, fine
According to court
documents, Berlusconi was sentenced to one year in prison. Paolo
Berlusconi received two years and three months.
Silvio Berlusconi was
also ordered to pay €80,000 (about $104,000) plus legal costs to
Fassino, whose attorneys had been seeking €1 million (about $1.3
million) in damages.
His lawyers will appeal to increase the award, they said in a statement following the verdict.
History of scandal
Berlusconi -- who served
on and off as prime minister between 1994 and 2011 -- is arguably one
of the most colorful and controversial figures in the lively history of
Italian politics. For years, he has been entangled in fraud, corruption
and sex scandals that have often reached Italian courts.
Berlusconi's first
conviction came in 1997, four years after he was first elected prime
minister and a year after he was removed after losing the support of
other parties. The sentence in that conviction was suspended.
A year later, in 1998, a court convicted him of corruption and bribery, but those verdicts were overturned in 1999 and 2000.
In 2007, prosecutors
accused him of judicial corruption over accusations he paid a lawyer
$600,000 in exchange for favorable testimony in two court case. He was
also accused of tax fraud and receipt of stolen goods involving the same
lawyer.
A judge dismissed some
tax fraud allegations and the stolen goods case in 1998; the corruption
case ended in 2012 when a judge ruled the statute of limitations had run
out.
He was convicted in 2012
on allegations that he had engaged in tax fraud involving Mediaset.
Prosecutors accused Berlusconi of reducing Mediaset's tax liabilities by
purchasing U.S. movie rights at inflated prices and then creating
illegal slush funds.
He is currently appealing that conviction.
Sex scandals have also
ensnared Berlusconi, whose wife filed for divorce in 2009 following
reports of the then-prime minister's involvement with an 18-year-old
girl.
Two years later,
magistrates in Milan said they were investigating whether Berlusconi
paid for sex with an underage prostitute named Ruby the Heartbreaker,
then used his power to spring her from jail in an unrelated incident in
which she was picked up for theft.
Berlusconi's trial on those charges began in 2011, shortly before he resigned from office.
Berlusconi has a vast
business empire, including media holdings and construction companies.
Forbes Magazine says he has a net worth of $6.2 billion.
Journalist Barbie Nadeau reported from Rome,
Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Peter Wilkinson,
Paul Armstrong contributed to this report.
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