Another victory for Italy's Silvio Berlusconi

Milan: A Milan court has ruled that the statute of limitations has run out in a corruption case against Silvio Berlusconi, handing Italy's former prime minister another victory in a long string of judicial woes he has faced.

The billionaire media mogul was not present in court yesterday afternoon when the court's three judges read out their verdict at the trial after about two hours of deliberation.

Berlusconi had denied any wrongdoing.

He was accused of paying a British lawyer David Mills $600,000 (Dh2.2 million) 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.

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

Prosecutors have demanded a five-year sentence. The court could decide to issue a ruling on the merits, or it could calculate that the statute of limitations on the charge has already expired, as the defence has argued, throwing out the case.

Berlusconi, 75, who stepped down as premier in November after failing to come up with convincing reforms to help Italy exit from the sovereign debt crisis, was absent from the courtroom.

‘Many trials'

Berlusconi issued a statement on 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.

He added that Mills had received the $600,000 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 the case expires by July, but even that time frame would not allow for two levels of appeals required to finalise any verdict. The defence claims the statute of limitations has already expired.

The court will have to make its own calculations, and decide if it can still issue a finding in the initial trial.

The ongoing trial has been suspended many times due to Berlusconi's obligations as premier and during a period when parliament had granted him immunity, complicating the calculation.