An Italian courtroom on Wednesday acquitted former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over allegations of bribing witnesses in a underage prostitution case that has dogged the conservative chief for greater than a decade.

Berlusconi was accused of paying 24 individuals, principally younger company at his so-called Bunga Bunga events, to supply false testimony in a earlier trial the place he was charged with paying for intercourse with a 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer.

In a ruling learn out in courtroom, the decide mentioned there was no case to reply. The opposite 28 co-defendants had been additionally all acquitted.

Prosecutors had demanded a six-year jail time period for Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia occasion is a key part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative coalition.

Berlusconi, 86, had denied the allegations and mentioned he’s the sufferer of a years-long plot by magistrates to hound him from politics.

The scandal over the Bunga Bunga events contributed to Berlusconi’s downfall as prime minister in 2011, marking the top of his fourth authorities.

He was ultimately acquitted within the preliminary case, with an appeals courtroom ruling that whereas he had paid a young person for intercourse, there was no proof he knew she was a minor. He was put within the dock once more after being accused of bribing witnesses.