Berlusconi sentenced to jail in sex trial

June 24, 2013 23:49

An Italian court today sentenced Silvio Berlusconi to seven years in jail and banned the former premier from public office after convicting him of paying for sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power.

The judges handed down a sentence that went beyond the request of prosecutors, who had called for the 76-year-old billionaire to serve six years.

The sentence is "completely illogical. The judges even went beyond the prosecutors' request," Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told journalists after the verdict was read out.

A small group of protesters cheered and applauded outside the courtroom, and sang the national anthem.

The verdict brings to a climax a two-year trial which sparked a media frenzy amid allegations of strippers dressed as nuns and erotic party games with topless girls.

The sentence will be suspended until all appeals have been exhausted, a process likely to take years.

Berlusconi's age also means he is unlikely to ever see the inside of a prison cell because of lenient sentencing guidelines in Italy for people over the age of 70.

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