The premier stands accused of bribing David Mills, a British lawyer who represented him in the 1990s. Prosecutors contend Berlusconi asked the lawyer to lie for him in order to protect his business interests.
An Italian court found Mills guilty in 2009 of accepting a $600,000 bribe from Berlusconi in exchange for giving false testimony during corruption trials in 1997 and 1998. However, an appeals court overturned the verdict, ruling the case violated the statute of limitations.
On Monday, the tribunal was expected to hear testimony from Maria De Fusco, a Swiss fund manager who allegedly transferred the bribe to Mills.
Berlusconi maintains his innocence and says the trials are politically motivated.
The 74-year-old prime minister faces three more charges of corruption, including allegations that he paid a minor to have sex with him. A businessman, Gianpaolo Tarantini, is being investigated on charges that he paid underage female escorts to attend lavish dinner parties thrown by Berlusconi. Berlusconi denied he knew the women were underage or received money in exchange for sex.
Tarantini maintains that he only paid travel expenses for the women, which he says Berlusconi was unaware of. Wiretapped transcripts from a previous trial of approximately 100,000 of Tarantini’s conversations including some with Berlusconi became public this week, leading journalists and opposition leaders to call for an inquiry into whether or not government airplanes ferried the ladies to the parties.
Berlusconi maintains he only ever gave money to Tarantini as an act of charity.
