Supporters gather at court to cheer on Berlusconi

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi made a rare court appearance yesterday, greeting throngs of supporters gathered outside the courthouse following a closed-door hearing in a tax fraud case he has dismissed as groundless.

Berlusconi waved as he arrived at the courthouse tightly guarded by 100 riot police. After the two-hour hearing, he emerged briefly from his car to thank his supporters.

“Thank you, thank you all,” Berlusconi told the cheering masses who waved Italian flags and banners bearing his party emblem. “It all went fine.”