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Kate Farmer

Cutting to the chase

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Erstellt am: 25. 6. 2013 - 15:15 Uhr

Bunga Bunga politics

Reality Check: Berlusconi verdict, Croatia-EU, Snowden US, Vienna +20, Poverty and energy

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It's been going on for years, but now at least one phase of the "Berlsuconi sex with an underage prostitute" scandal is drawing to close.

The Milan court found the 75 year old ex-Prime Minister guilty and sentenced him to 7 years in prison.

Is that the end of it? Of course not! First of all, two appeals are possible, and these will almost certainly take months - so we will be waiting for quite a while to find out whether the verdict and sentence stand.

EPA/ALESSANDRO DI MEO

Could Berlusconi's bunga bungle land him behind bars?

Even if they are upheld, in Italy, it is usual practice for people over 70 years old not to do prison service, but to be put under house arrest, so even though it's technically possible for Berlusconi to end up in a prison cell, it's very unlikely to happen.

So what's all the fuss about? Well, a second part of the sentence bans him from public office for life, and that is the part that has more interesting implications as far as the Italian political scene is concerned. Although Berlusoconi does not hold official office at the moment, his political aspirations and influence are still very real. Upset him too much, and he could pull the plug on the whole delicate coalition that makes up Italy's fragile government.

So while the bunga bunga party might be over, the political fallout may still have a long way to run.

Seema Gupta reports from Rome on the sentence and the future implications.