A tax fraud conviction against former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi was upheld by an appeals court on Wednesday, in a ruling that has the potential to destabilize the country's newly formed grand coalition government, dpa reported.
In October, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years' imprisonment with a three-year remit; banned from holding public office for five years; and excluded from managerial positions in private companies for three years.
Milanese judges confirmed that verdict in full after closed door deliberations that lasted more than five hours. Observers had expected them to issue their findings at a later stage, on Saturday or even later this month.
The charge against Berlusconi is that Mediaset - his family's media firm - created an offshore scheme to reduce its tax bill in the early 2000s. He says that his duties as prime minister at the time would have kept him from knowing anything about it.
The trial resumed Wednesday after being suspended for weeks because Berlusconi had asked it to be moved to Brescia, arguing that Milan courts were biased against him. Italy's top appeals body, the Court of Cassation, rejected that request on Monday.
In an interview broadcast by one of his TV channels late on Tuesday, the media mogul turned politician had said he was sure to be cleared of all the accusations.
"I am confident of a full acquittal, unless they want to yet again eliminate me via the judiciary. Such attempts have been ongoing for 20 years," Berlusconi said.
He can appeal a second time before the Court of Cassation. However, if the guilty verdict were to be upheld again before the statute of limitation runs out in mid-2014, he would be stripped of his parliamentary seat and would have to serve his sentence.