Friend of Italy's Berlusconi Convicted of Bribery

[Judi Lynn]

Friend of Italy's Berlusconi Convicted of Bribery
Sat November 22, 2003 12:53 PM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
By Emilio Parodi
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian court Saturday sentenced a friend of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to five years in jail for corruption but cleared him of a key accusation which has also been leveled against the prime minister.

Cesare Previti, a former defense minister who had been on trial for three years, was convicted on charges of paying a $434,000 bribe to a Rome judge in 1991.

But he was acquitted on another charge related to the privatisation of food company SME in the 1980s.

Prosecutors in Milan had asked for an 11-year term against Previti. He and Berlusconi have both denied the charges and said they are the victims of a politically motivated campaign.

(snip) Berlusconi had faced the same charges until parliament passed an immunity law for the prime minister and other top officials earlier this year, shortly before Italy took over the rotating presidency of the European Union. (snip/...)


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3876030


BlairBushBerlusconi!