A Milan judge on Wednesday ruled
that Silvio Berlusconi's case in the so-called Ruby Ter trial
should not be be separated from those of other defendants
because the ex-premier is seriously ill, despite please from
both the prosecution and the defence.
All defendants will go forward together, the judge ruled, with
the next hearing being on September 8.
The 84-year-old media billionaire has been in and out of
hospital in recent months after suffering a bad case of COVID-19
last year.
Berlusconi is accused of bribing witnesses to lie about his
alleged "bunga bunga" sex parties at his home. He is among the
29 defendants, including several young women he allegedly bribed
to say the parties were innocent affairs.
The three-time premier's defence entered a plea earlier
Wednesday saying that his health conditions continued to be
"severe" and he faced "a not brief prognosis" due to long COVID.
The prosecution also said the media mogul had
"pluri-pathologies", was in a "chronic" state, and was suffering
psychiatric and neurological symptoms that merited "attention"
from the court.
Berlusconi is however on the mend after being prescribed
"absolute rest" after suffering a bout of severe 'long COVID'
symptoms, the no.2 in his centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party,
ex-European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, said earlier
this week.
Berlusconi, 84, who had a heart valve replaced in 2016, said his
experience with COVID last September was "the worst and most
frightening in my life".
The three-time former premier and media mogul caught the virus
in Sardinia from his friend and fellow billionaire businessman,
ex- Benetton and Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore.
The Mediaset empire owner spent a week in hospital earlier this
month with a fever due to a COVID vaccination and the lingering
effects of his bout of the virus, and has been reported as still
being seriously ill even after he left the Milan clinic.
On Monday Tajani said his boss "is better, he's in a
convalescent phase, and we're keeping him informed of
everything. He's the leader of FI, I'm not replacing him. I hope
that this moment of absolute rest ends as soon as possible".
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