ROME (AA) - Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to stand trial under allegations that he bribed a senator in 2006.
Berlusconi is accused of paying 3 million Euros to left-leaning senator Sergio De Gregorio in a bid to overthrow a government led by center-left leader Romano Prodi. Berlusconi’s trial will begin on February 11 in Naples, a southern city. After confessing to having been bribed, De Gregorio was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in a settlement with the court.
Following the bribery, former senator De Gregorio left his left-leaning party, causing Prodi's government to eventually resign. Those developments triggered an early election in which Berlusconi gained a comfortable victory.
Naples’ court decision prompted criticism from The People of Freedom, headed by Berlusconi. Senior party leader Renato Schiffani accused the judiciary of circling his leader. “Alas they will not reach their aim anyway,” he said on Wednesday.
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