Metropolis Desk-
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has away in Milan at the age of 86, according to his lawyer, who also confirmed the news to CBS News. Berlusconi was one of the nation’s most charismatic and divisive contemporary leaders. When Berlusconi was admitted to the hospital in April, his doctors informed the staff that he was battling a rare form of leukemia, and the Reuters news service reported that he had lately developed a lung infection.
In a tweet, Guido Crosseto, the head of the nation’s defense, praised Berlusconi and claimed that his passing had left “a huge void because he was great.” An era is coming to an end.
Before entering Italian politics and taking office as prime minister for the first of his three stints in 1994, the former cruise ship singer rebuilt himself as a real estate magnate and a television media mogul.
Despite, or perhaps partly as a result of, what seemed like never-ending gaffes, he went on to rule Italian politics and culture for two decades. He once said that former American President Barack Obama was “sun-tanned,” for example, and joked that liking girls was “better” than being gay.
Although Berlusconi long portrayed himself as a victim of “political correctness,” his propensity for the less honorable aspects of money and power, such as the infamous “Bunga Bunga” sex parties he hosted at his villas in Milan and Sardinia, as well as his business activities, eventually led to legal repercussions.
He was found guilty in court of paying a minor to have sex with him and received a seven-year prison term. Those charges were ultimately thrown out, but identical situations occurred in more than 20 different trials, most of which involved allegations of corruption, embezzlement, and bribery.
He once asserted that he has seen at least 2,500 court dates.
Six of the cases resulted in charges being dismissed as a result of decriminalizing legislation he helped enact as the country’s president, the statute of limitations has expired, or both.
He would argue in court that the evidence was “all fiction,” screaming against “liberal elites,” “leftist” jurists, and a “hostile media” despite owning his own TV networks, magazines, and newspapers.
But in 2013, Berlusconi was eventually found guilty. He was found guilty of tax fraud and given a four-year prison sentence, but due to his advanced age, the penalty was reduced to just one year of community service at a nursing home.
His time in the political spotlight in Italy came to an end as a result, but his populist legacy persuaded the world that those with more star power than political expertise might aspire to the highest positions in government.
Source – NBC News
