Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

POLITICS

‘Once again, I got away with it’: Italy’s Berlusconi leaves hospital after Covid treatment

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi left hospital on Monday 11 days after being admitted with coronavirus, an experience he described as perhaps "the most difficult" in his life.

Published: 14 September 2020 12:21 CEST

'Once again, I got away with it': Italy's Berlusconi leaves hospital after Covid treatment

The 83-year-old media tycoon, who tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from a holiday at his luxury villa in Sardinia, was admitted to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan on September 3rd with a lung infection.

READ ALSO: Italy's former PM Silvio Berlusconi hospitalised with Covid-19

“The first three days were extremely difficult,” he told journalists as he left the hospital.

Two of his children – daughter Barbara, 36, and son Luigi, 31 – also contracted the virus, as did his companion Marta Fascina.

“It was tough. Thank heavens, thanks to the doctors, I got over what was perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life.”

“Once again, I seem to have got away with it!” he said, after walking slowly but without assistance to address the cameras.

Property and media magnate Berlusconi was Italian prime minister for his centre-right Forza Italia party on three occasions between

1994 and 2011.

Despite his regular brushes with the law and health problems – including open heart surgery in 2016 — the man known as “the immortal” for his

longevity in politics led the Italian right for more than two decades.

The scandal-hit billionaire had insisted this month that he would continue his political activities despite the positive virus test.

Regional elections are to be held in Italy this weekend, as well as a referendum on reducing the number of deputies in parliament.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

Url copied to clipboard!