Berlusconi’s Bribery Conviction Reversed
MILAN, Italy — An appeals court here overturned a bribery conviction against media mogul and opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday in a personal victory for the former prime minister who is hoping for a political comeback.
The court cleared him of one of four counts of bribery and invoked the statute of limitations to overturn his conviction on the other three on grounds that too much time had passed since the events.
Berlusconi was found guilty in 1998 of complicity in bribing tax inspectors in return for lenient audits of his Fininvest media empire.
Accusations of corruption contributed to the downfall of his seven-month government in 1994.
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