Renato Soru, the founder and
president of Italian telecommunications group Tiscali, was
sentenced to a three-year jail term by a Cagliari judge for tax
evasion on Thursday.
Prosecutors had requested a four-year term for the MEP, a
member of Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) and
Sardinia governor from 2004 and 2008.
The conviction relates to tax evasion of 2.6 million euros
linked to a loan by Soru's Andalas Ldt to Tiscali.
"I didn't expect this sentence," Soru said.
"I think this sentence is unjust".
Soru quit his position as the secretary of the PD in
Sardinia after the conviction, ANSA sources said.
"I don't think that I have committed any crimes and I
think this sentence will be overturned in the other stages of
the trial process," he added.
In Italy people do not usually have to start serving jail
terms for non-violent crimes until the appeals process has been
exhausted.
It is the latest in several recent criminal cases to hit
the image of the PD, including the arrest earlier this week of
the mayor of Lodi, who is accused of bid rigging in relation to
swimming pool contracts.
"The immoral deeds of the PD continue," Beppe Grillo,
leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, wrote on his
popular blog.
"Who will be next?"
Renzi on Wednesday dismissed speculation that elements in
the judiciary could be working to undermine his government and
the PD.
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