Berlusconi cleared of false accounting

Milan: A Milan court yesterday cleared former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on a charge of false accounting related to the sale of the SME state food conglomerate in the 1980s, before the media magnate entered politics.

The court deliberated just five minutes before clearing Berlusconi - who was part of a group of magnates trying to buy SME - because the allegations did not constitute false accounting under changes to the law made in 2002, when Berlusconi was in power.

At the time the law was passed, critics said it was tailor-made to help Berlusconi, who has faced several false bookkeeping charges relating to his business deals over the years.

Berlusconi is pressing for early elections that he hopes will return him to power after the fall of Romano Prodi's centre-left government last week.