DEFIANT

Berlusconi: I’m Staying in Politics

Despite four-year sentence for fraud.

It takes more than a fraud conviction to keep Silvio Berlusconi out of politics. The former Italian prime minister told Italian TV on Saturday that he wants to “reform the justice system” and vowed to stay in politics—despite having been barred from holding office for five years. On Friday a judge sentenced Berlusconi to four years in prison for tax fraud, although he won’t have to serve the time until his last appeal, which could take years. Earlier in the week, Berlusconi had vowed to stay out of politics, saying he would instead give “advice, expertise, speaking and judging without intruding”—but he clearly could not keep to that very long.