Berlusconi to Stand Trial on Corruption Charges

MILAN, October 31: An Italian court has ordered former PM
Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on corruption charges, alongside British
lawyer David Mills, the estranged husband of the U.K.’s Secretary of State for
Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell.

According to wire reports, Berlusconi has been accused of
bribing Mills in 1997. Berlusconi allegedly paid Mills at least $600,000 for
false testimony in two trials against him during the 1990s.

The new case is set to go to trial March 13. Mills and
Berlusconi are facing sentences of between three and eight years behind bars if
they are convicted.

Berlusconi is facing charges in another case that comes to
trial next month—he is accused of using offshore companies set up by
Mills to buy the rights to Hollywood features, and then selling them on to
Mediaset at inflated prices.