DHAKA: A Milan court on Saturday ruled that former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi should be barred from holding public office for two years following a conviction for tax fraud.

But, since Berlusconi is a senator, the court’s decision will have no immediate effect, and his expulsion from the Senate will depend on a separate vote in the Upper House of Parliament, expected to take place next month.

Saturday’s ruling reflected the prosecution’s request for a two-year ban.

Berlusconi’s lawyers, who can appeal to the Supreme Court, had asked for a one-year ban, the minimum under the law that was being applied in the Milan case.

The maximum would have been three years.

Italy’s Supreme Court on August 1 definitively upheld a tax fraud conviction against the centre-right leader, rejecting his final appeal against an earlier four-year jail sentence.

The four-year sentence was commuted to one year, and, if the Senate expels him, Berlusconi will spend the year either under house arrest or in community service.

BDST: 1702 HRS, OCT 19, 2013
RoR/JCK