Forza Italia Senator Denis
Verdini, a close aide of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, and
former economy ministry undersecretary Nicola Cosentino were
sent to trial on Monday for alleged involvement in a secret
cabal, the so-called P3, that sought to condition some State
bodies.
Verdini faces corruption charges.
Cosentino, who was arrested earlier this year in one of a
series of cases against him, including suspicions of mafia
links, is accused of defamation and "private violence".
He was allegedly involved in the publication of false
reports on a blog about Campania's current centre-right Governor
Stefano Caldoro - an alleged attempt to discredit Caldoro before
the 2010 regional elections.
Cosentino, a member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI)
party like Verdini and Caldoro, also alleged "carried out acts
aimed at forcing" Caldoro to drop his governorship bid.
The case against another former Berlusconi aide, Marcello
Dell'Utri, was shelved by a Rome judge.
Former Senator Dell'Utri is in prison after a definitive
seven-year sentence for Mafia links was upheld by the supreme
court this year.
The case against Dell'Utri was dropped due to a
technicality over the extradition procedure from Lebanon, where
he had fled to before the supreme court's decision, ANSA sources
said.
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