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Italy's highest court on Wednesday rejected an appeal of former premier Silvio Berlusconi who argued that a 2010 hearing of a trial which convicted him of tax fraud should never have taken place due to his right to "legitimate impediment" that was denied.
According to the highest court, in 2010 the then premier, who did not appear in a Milan court hearing the Mediaset case, set a cabinet meeting "on the hearing's day without giving any indication about legitimate impedement (unlike what he did in previous cases)."
Wednesday's ruling confirmed the decision of the Milan court, which rejected Berlusconi's argument and in October 2012 proceeded to conviction of four years in jails and five years out of public office for tax fraud on broadcasting rights bought by his television company Mediaset.
Last month, an appeal court upheld the verdict, after which the three-time premier and media entrepreneur is now appealling to the highest court: a final decision is expected by the end of this year before the trial expires under a statute of limitations in 2014.
Should the highest court uphold the conviction too, Berlusconi will not have to serve three of the four years in jail due to a 2006 amnesty law.
However, he would be banned from public office for five years, or more likely 10 depending on a new regulation introduced recently, which according to political observers actually means a "lifetime exile from politics" considered the advanced age of Berlusconi who is currently 76.
Berlusconi has always denied any wrongdoing in the several previous and ongoing trials, claiming that he was the victim of a group of biased left-wing prosecutors and judges.
On Monday, another Milan court is set to pronounce the verdict on the Ruby case where the former premier is accused of having sex with an underage prostitute and using his power to cover it up.
Also, by the end of next week the highest court is expected to issue a final verdict confirming or rejecting a conviction which awarded more than half a billion euros damages to Berlusconi's media rival Carlo De Benedetti because of the fraudulent takeover of the Mondadori publishing house.
Although Berlusconi is no longer in government, he is still very much in control behind it.
The fragile left-right coalition of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which took power last April after two months of post-election deadlock, depends on the votes of Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PdL) party for its survival.
The PdL counts five ministers in the coalition, including Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano, who is the current PdL head and served as justice minister in the Berlusconi government from 2008 to 2011.
"They want to eliminate me from politics, but I will go ahead," Berlusconi said in a statement commenting on Wednesday's verdict. "But I will keep a loyal support to the government," he added.
The highest court's decision also triggered the reaction of a leading figure in PdL, Deputy Senate Speaker Maurizio Gasparri, who said that all of his party's parliament members would resign if their head was to be banned from holding public office.
