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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi waves as he leaves a memorial mass for his mother (AFP/Andreas Solaro)
The billionaire prime minister, who has faced a series of corruption charges since first coming to power in 1994, told a news conference in the northern city of Turin: "Sovereignty no longer belongs to the people but to prosecutors."
He said he hoped that the number of "good judges will continue to increase."
Berlusconi also commented on the trial of David Mills, his former tax lawyer who was convicted last year of accepting a bribe from him in exchange for providing false evidence during two trials in the mid-1990s.
Mills was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, but an appeal court on Thursday threw out the case saying the statute of limitations had expired.
Berlusconi said Friday he wanted "full absolution," adding that the Mills case was "an invention, pure and simple, absurd."
The judgement in favour of Mills set the stage for charges against Berlusconi over the same alleged crime to be thrown out for the same reason on Saturday.
Antonio Di Pietro, a former anti-corruption judge and now leader of the small opposition Italy of Values party, commented: "If Berlusconi was really innocent he would stand trial instead of running away and continuing to attack and insult the judiciary like a dictator in a light opera."
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He said he hoped that the number of "good judges will continue to increase."
Berlusconi also commented on the trial of David Mills, his former tax lawyer who was convicted last year of accepting a bribe from him in exchange for providing false evidence during two trials in the mid-1990s.
Mills was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, but an appeal court on Thursday threw out the case saying the statute of limitations had expired.
Berlusconi said Friday he wanted "full absolution," adding that the Mills case was "an invention, pure and simple, absurd."
The judgement in favour of Mills set the stage for charges against Berlusconi over the same alleged crime to be thrown out for the same reason on Saturday.
Antonio Di Pietro, a former anti-corruption judge and now leader of the small opposition Italy of Values party, commented: "If Berlusconi was really innocent he would stand trial instead of running away and continuing to attack and insult the judiciary like a dictator in a light opera."
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