The Cassation ruling on the Mediaset TV rights trial will not arrive before Thursday afternoon. The defense arguments concluded on Wednesday evening, while the panel will only return to the council chamber on Thursday 1 August around noon, after having held a brief hearing at 10 for other causes already fixed. Franco Coppi, Silvio Berlusconi's lawyer, has made it known that the Knight will not be present.
The former prime minister was sentenced in the first and second instances for tax fraud to four years' imprisonment and a five-year ban from public office. However, yesterday the Attorney General asked to reduce the ban to three years.
