Silvio Berlusconi's trial to resume

Published on Friday 27 November 2009 21:39

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's corruption trial is reopening, with next Friday set as the next hearing date.

Mr Berlusconi is accused of ordering the 1997 payment of $600,000 (about 360,000) to British lawyer David Mills, the estranged husband of Olympic minister Tessa Jowell, in exchange for his false testimony at two hearings in other corruption cases.

Last month, an appeals court upheld the corruption conviction against Mills.

Mr Berlusconi's portion of the case was put on hold last year following the passage of a law granting the premier immunity from prosecution while in office. But last month, Italy's constitutional court overturned that law.