Berlusconi to attend court over business charges

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to attend a court hearing today over allegations of breach of trust in his business interests.

The hearing in Milan is to decide whether Berlusconi, whose family now runs his media empire, should stand trial for the case involving his company, Mediatrade.

“The plan is for the prime minister to attend the hearing on Monday but if he has institutional duties it’s obvious that he will not be able to come,” said his lawyer Piero Longo.

Berlusconi, 74, is already a defendant in two ongoing trials and is also set to stand trial starting on April 6 on charges of having sex with an underage prostitute and then using his position to try and cover up the alleged crime.

The abuse of office charge carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

He has denied all charges and has accused prosecutors of conspiring against him in a left-wing plot.

Berlusconi has received convictions in the past during a long history of legal woes but has always either won appeals or had cases against him thrown out after they dragged on beyond a statute of limitations.