An Italian appeal court upheld a conviction for Mafia links against one of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies today but reduced his jail sentence to seven years from nine.
Marcello Dell'Utri, a senator for Mr Berlusconi's centre-right People of Freedom party and founder of its forerunner Forza Italia, had sought a full acquittal from accusations he acted as link between the mob and Italy's business and political elite.
A long-time friend of the prime minister and former chairman of his advertising firm Publitalia, Dell'Utri was accused by Sicilian prosecutors of having frequent contact with the Mafia while working for Berlusconi between 1974 and 1994.
Mr Berlusconi is not linked to the Dell'Utri case.
Dell'Utri's lawyers welcomed today's ruling as it found no evidence of any Mafia link after 1992, the year in which Cosa Nostra launched a wave of brutal attacks against the Italian state, including the high-profile killing of anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.
In reaching its decision, the court appeared to dismiss testimony in December by a jailed Mafia hitman turned witness, Gaspare Spatuzza, who said that a godfather convicted of a 1993 bombing campaign had boasted to him of his links to Mr Berlusconi.
A full explanation of the decision must be published within 90 days.
Dell'Utri's legal team said they were still not satisfied with the seven year sentence and were considering whether to take the case to a further appeal. The senator was originally convicted in 2004 but has not served any jail time.
Dell'Utri helped create Forza Italia and acted as Berlusconi's campaign manager in the 1994 election catapulted the media billionaire to power.
The Palermo case started in 1997, but it was testimony by a high-ranking Cosa Nostra member arrested in 2002 which provided some of the strongest accusations for the prosecution.
Witness Antonio Giuffre said Dell'Utri was the mafia's main link with Forza Italia, receiving in return political favours and electoral support. Giuffre also testified that Mr Berlusconi had met with the head of Cosa Nostra, an allegation the prime minister's lawyers have dismissed as absurd.
Mr Berlusconi has never been convicted in the 109 cases brought against him since entering politics 16 years ago. Many Italians have little regard for the country's notoriously slow and capricious judicial system.
Reuters