Berlusconi: court admits Senate of Italy as civil plaintiff in bribing trial

Wednesday, 26 February 2014. A court in Naples has granted the Senate of Italy's request to be a civil plaintiff in a new bribery trial with the involvement of Silvio Berlusconi.

A series of new investigations are leading a Neapolitanian court to set up a trial against Silvio Berlusconi, for bribing an Italian senator, though rumours spread that the senators might even be more than one.

Silvio Berlusconi screaming for vengeance against the "red judges"

The current case is about Mr Sergio De Gregorio, a member of the Senate of Italy who received €3m (£2.46m or $4.11m) for switching sides to centre-right, and by doing this helped bring down the centre-left government of Romano Prodi, and triggered an election that Berlusconi won, back in 2007.

Berlusconi's divorce from second wife Veronica Lario was finalized (but the money issue is still to be settled)

Tuesday, 18 February 2014. A court in northern Italy's town of Monza finalized the divorce between Silvio Berlusconi and his second wife Veronica Lario (but the battle about the money to be paid in alimony is still to be fought).

A Silvio Berlusconi overwhelmed by emotions...

Here's how it started: Veronica Lario (who's real name is Miriam Raffaella Bartolini), asked for divorce, saying that his husband is a sick man having affairs with under-age girls (see photo below). Just for the record, the Lario woman was a former lover of Silvio Berlusconi when he was still married to his first wife Carla Elvira Lucia Dall'Oglio.

The "non-consensual separation" took off after a while, it was filed on 25 December 2012: 22 years and 10 days after they wedding. The wedlock brought three children: Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi (even though, actually, Barbara Berlusconi was born in 1984, when her father was still married to his first wife).

Berlusconi: new trial for bribing senators, in quite a few occasions

Wednesday, 12 February 2014. A new investigation began today in Naples, regarding a few circumstances in which Berlusconi might gave offered money and other benefits to senators who would cast a favourable vote for the ex-prime minister.

Corruption what? 

There were a few situations in which Italian senators from a number of political sides took a last minute decision and turned against the will of their parties and voted in favour of Mr Berlusconi, and these circumstances sounded a bit fishy to some judges in Naples, who decided to investigate them. At least that's what we've learned from the news.

All this could cause new headaches to the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has already been sentenced for tax fraud, is currently appealing against a prison sentence for having sex with an under-age prostitute and abuse of office (and the proceedings are now contiuing on the grouds that witnesses might have been bribed by Berlusconi), and was kicked out of the Senate of Italy (due to the first conviction).