FILE – This Aug. 2, 2013 file photo shows former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi waving to reporters after attending a meeting with the People of Freedom party’s lawmakers at the Lower Chamber in Rome. An Italian parliamentary committee begins debating Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 whether ex-Premier Berlusconi should be stripped of his Senate seat following his conviction for tax fraud. Berlusconi has already threatened to bring down Premier Enrico Letta’s unusual left-right government if the Senate committee votes to kick him out of parliament. His People of Freedom party is a crucial part of Letta’s coalition. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, file)
ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi is insisting he will stay in Italian politics even if his fellow senators strip him of his Senate seat after his tax fraud conviction.
The former premier also vowed anew in a pre-recorded video appearance on major Italian TV networks Wednesday to try to have the conviction overturned at Italy’s constitutional court and the European human rights court. He says he is “absolutely innocent.”
The media mogul’s 16-minute speech aired shortly before a Senate committee was to vote on a proposal by one of his center-right party’s senators to postpone a decision on ousting him until his appeals are complete.
