EU Court vacates Berlusconi's human rights case

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday vacated former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's case against a law that barred him from public office following a tax fraud conviction, at Berlusconi's request.

The court in Strasbourg, France, said that Berlusconi requested that the case be struck last July after an Italian court ruled that the three-time former premier was again eligible for public office.

It concluded that there were "no special circumstances relating to respect for human rights," which would require it to continue the case.

Berlusconi had petitioned the human rights court in Strasbourg, France in 2013, arguing that his human rights were violated when his political career was sidelined by a 2012 tax fraud conviction.

Berlusconi, who had stepped down from his third term as premier nearly a year before the conviction, was sentenced to four years in prison and an Italian law makes anyone sentenced to more than two years ineligible for public office for six years.

As a result, he was forced to give up his Senate seat. Berlusconi, now 82, did public service in lieu of jail time.

Any court decision would have had no practical effect, as a court in Milan ruled earlier this year that the three-time former premier was again eligible for office due to good conduct. (AP) SMJ

SMJ

(With inputs from agencies.)