Berlusconi wants community service sentence to be reduced

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has asked for a one-year community service sentence he is serving for tax fraud to be reduced by 45 days, legal sources said on Wednesday, Jan 7, according to Reuters.

The request was lodged with a Milan court and a decision on the matter could come as early as next week, the sources said.

Last year, the 78-year-old Berlusconi had a four-year jail sentence commuted into an obligation to spend four hours a week at a center for the elderly, a ruling that restricted his movements but not his party political activity.

The four-time prime minister, still the most influential politician in Italy's center-right, kicked off his community work last May, though the period officially runs from April 23.

After completing the first six months, the billionaire media tycoon was eligible for his one-year community service sentence to be cut to 10 1/2 months.

In the request sent to the Milan court, according to Reuters, Berlusconi's lawyers said the duties performed as part of his community service had "enriched" his process of rehabilitation.

It was not possible to obtain a comment from Berlusconi or his lawyers.