Berlusconi corruption charges thrown out

Milan court ended a corruption trial against Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday, ruling that the statute of limitations had run out on the case and essentially handing Italy's former premier another victory in a long string of judicial woes he has faced.

The billionaire media mogul wasn't in court when the three judges read out their verdict after about two hours of deliberation. Defendants in Italy aren't required to attend their trials.

Berlusconi had denied any wrongdoing. He was accused of paying a British lawyer David Mills $600,000 to lie during two 1990s trials to shield the politician and his Fininvest holding company from charges related to his business dealings.

Berlusconi's lawyers successfully argued that the case should be thrown out because the statute of limitation had run out.

It is "useless to comment," prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale told reporters as he left the courtroom. Prosecutors had demanded conviction and a five-year sentence.

The three-judge panel began its deliberations on Saturday after Berlusconi's defence made its closing statements, arguing that Berlusconi should be cleared of corruption.

Stepped down as premier

Berlusconi, 75, stepped down as premier in November after failing to come up with convincing reforms to help Italy exit from the sovereign debt crisis. He had issued a statement Friday railing against magistrates for the "many trials" against him, and saying that he doesn't remember having met Mills.

"Mills was one of many lawyers abroad that occasionally worked for the Fininvest group. I don't recall ever having met him," Berlusconi said in that statement. He added that Mills had received the $600,000 US from an Italian arms dealer for some legal work and had made up the story that the money had been a gift from Fininvest employee, who had since died, to avoid paying a 50 per cent tax on earnings.

By prosecutors' calculations, the statute of limitations on Berlusconi's case should have expired by July. Evidently the court didn't agree. But even the prosecutors' time frame would not have allowed for the two levels of appeal required to finalize any verdict.

The trial was suspended many times due to Berlusconi's obligations as premier and during a period when parliament had granted him immunity, complicating the calculation. In Italy, the clock on the statute of limitations continues to tick even after a trial begins.

Mills was convicted in 2009 on bribery charges, but his conviction was overturned by Italy's highest court after the statute of limitations expired.

The corruption trial is one of several Berlusconi is currently facing in Milan, including charges that he paid an underage Moroccan teenager to have sex with him, then used his influence to cover it up. Both he and the young woman have denied the charges.

Berlusconi has faced dozens of trials in Milan, mostly for his business dealings. He has either been acquitted or seen the charges expire under the statute of limitations.