Former Italian President has been sentenced to one year in prison for leaking transcripts of police wiretap conversations, which later appeared in a newspaper he owns. The conversations involved a senior member of the centre-left Democratic Party, and were leaked before the 2006 elections. The publication of the documents in the “Il Giornale”, has been regarded as an attempt to discredit the rival politician.
Mr Berlusconi is set to return to Italian politics after the recent elections. His centre-right group is the second strongest in the Italian parliament.
The sentence will not see Mr Berlusconi behind bars, as under Italian law anyone over the age of 75 who is given a sentence of less than one year does not go to jail, Mr Berlusconi is 76. Mr Berlusconi is also set to appeal the conviction. He is also facing two more charges this month: one for tax fraud, and the other for sex with an under age prostitute.