Berlusconi says he seeks acquittal in corruption trial following high court ruling

Berlusconi wants acquittal in corruption trial

ROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi insisted on Friday that his corruption trial go forward so it can end with his acquittal, even as his lawyers were working for a possible suspension of the court hearings.

Berlusconi called the case against him “pure invention” as he spoke to a political rally a day after Italy’s high court overturned the conviction of an associate in the same case.

The top court on Thursday cited the expiration of the statute of limitations as it threw out the conviction and a 4 1/2-year prison sentence for British attorney David Mills, who had been found guilty in 2009 of taking a bribe to lie in court to protect Berlusconi in a case involving the billionaire media mogul’s business interests.

In a separate trial, which was scheduled to resume in Milan on Saturday, Berlusconi is accused of corrupting the witness. Berlusconi has denied any wrongdoing and has long blamed this and other judicial woes on what he contends is the left-wing sympathies of some prosecutors.

The Mills case is “pure invention, an absurdity,” Berlusconi told the rally in the northern city of Turin. “The trial goes forward, and I want to come out of it with a full acquittal.”

Although the premier was insisting he wanted the trial to play out, his lawyers and his Cabinet have been toiling to come up with a strategy to rescue him from his legal woes — to the anger of critics who contend his supporters aim to put the premier above the law.

Berlusconi attorney Niccolo Ghedini told Corriere della Sera that Berlusconi’s trial should be put on hold until the premier’s defense team can study the rationale of the high court’s ruling. The court is expected to release its explanation some time this spring.

Ghedini says he hopes the Milan court deciding Berlusconi’s portion of the trial will dismiss the case based on the new ruling.

A lawmaker from Berlusconi’s Freedom People’s party, Ghedini has also been key to a team of experts and political allies studying possible legislation that could aid the premier in his judicial battles.