Former Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon, Silvio Berlusconi, better known for his "bunga bunga" bashes, was found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison in a film-rights case involving his Mediaset SpA (MS) television company.
Berlusconi, who describes himself as the most persecuted man in history, has the right to appeal the ruling two more times before the sentence becomes definitive and its highly unlikely that he would serve any jail time given his age, 76, and the Italian appeals process.
The President of the Court Edoardo D'Avossa who ordered the former prime minister to a four-year jail term on charges of using offshore companies to buy film and TV rights a decade ago at inflated prices, attributed most of the blame on Berlusconi as he acquitted Fedele Confalonieri, chairman of Mediaset.
The sentence was later reduced to one year as the court applied an amnesty law passed in 2006 by the center-left government of Romano Prodi.
"This conviction is political, incredible and absolutely intolerable," Berlusconi said in a TV interview on Friday evening. He accused that he is being prosecuted by left-leaning judges in Milan. Berlusconi's lawyers said he will appeal against the verdict which is likely to be lodged by Nov. 10.
This sentencing mark the latest one in the series of cases were Berlusconi has been convicted in a criminal trial. Lower courts have convicted him in four other cases since 1990 for charges ranging from perjury and corruption to false accounting.
