World

Italy judge: Berlusconi trial won't be accelerated

MILAN (AP) — A judge in Naples has denied prosecutors' request for an accelerated trial against former Premier Silvio Berlusconi on charges of corruption.

Judge Marina Cimma ruled Tuesday that a preliminary hearing will decide if there is enough evidence to support corruption charges against the former leader for allegedly having paid a rival lawmaker to join his party, a move that weakened the previous government of Romano Prodi. Prosecutors had requested to go straight to trial, arguing that the evidence was overwhelming to support corruption charges.

The lawmaker, Sergio De Gregorio, has said he was paid €3 million ($3.9 million) to join Berlusconi's party. Berlusconi faces two other active trials in Milan, both nearing verdicts. They are his sex-for-hire trial and his appeal for a tax-fraud conviction.

Related Headlines

  • Berlusconi lawyers seek to delay sex-for-hire case

    Silvio Berlusconi's judicial woes weighed on Italy's political future on Monday as prosecutors requested an accelerated trial of the former premier on corruption charges and ... 

  • Silvio Berlusconi

    Berlusconi convicted in wiretap case

    Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was convicted Thursday over the illegal publication in a newspaper owned by his media empire of wiretapped conversations related to ... 

  • Italy's Parliament convenes, faces stalemate

    Italy's newly elected Parliament was locked in political gridlock as it convened Friday for the first time after elections gave no party a clear victory. The normally routine ... 

  • Woman in Berlusconi sex trial denounces tactics

    The Moroccan woman at the center of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial held an unusual protest Thursday in front of Milan's courthouse, accusing investigators ... 

Find your future job here