ITALY: An Italian court has sentenced former prime minister Giulio Andreotti to 24 years in prison on charges of complicity in the 1979 murder of a journalist, his lawyers said last night.
The shock ruling took Italy and its seven-times prime minister by surprise. Andreotti, now 83 and a senator for life, was acquitted of the charges in a first trial three years ago, following accusations levelled by a Mafia turncoat.
A giant of Italian post-war politics, popularly dubbed "Mr Italy", the veteran conservative will remain at liberty while he appeals the latest court decision, his lawyers said.
"It's a bitter surprise," Andreotti's lawyer, Mr Franco Coppi said from the central city of Perugia, where judges had been sitting in deliberation over the weekend.
"I have always believed in justice and I continue to believe, even if this evening I find it difficult to accept such an absurdity," Andreotti, who had been waiting for the decision at his apartment in Rome, said in a statement.
He has always denied all charges relating to the killing of Mino Pecorelli in 1979.
The judges in the appeals court in Perugia were not able to reach a decision until Sunday night. The details about the decision will be officially released at a later date.
Under Italian law, Andreotti would only go to prison if convicted by Italy's highest appeals court - an outcome that few expect. It was prosecutors who had appealed against his original acquittal.
The prosecution alleges that Andreotti's aides, in collusion with Mafia gangsters, conspired to kill Mr Pecorelli because he was about to publish revelations that could have ruined Andreotti's career. It was not immediately clear why the court had overruled the initial acquittal.
In a separate trial in Sicily, Andreotti was cleared of charges that he was a member of the Mafia, although prosecutors are appealing that decision, too.
Andreotti, a Christian Democrat, held nearly every political post short of head of state during his long career, and most political observers thought the accusations were behind him. He says the charges in both trials are politically motivated.
Centre-right politicians rallied behind Andreotti last night, while some left-wing opposition leaders greeted the decision with cautious optimism. - (Reuters)