The fate of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will be decided by Italy's Supreme Court. Source: AAP
ITALY'S top court is to begin crucial hearings for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that could end the billionaire tycoon's parliamentary career and risk upsetting the country's fragile coalition.
The supreme court is set to decide on Tuesday whether or not to confirm a one-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from politics in a long-running tax fraud case involving Berlusconi's media business interests.
"Judgment Day", reads a headline in Italy's top-selling Corriere della Sera daily, while La Stampa said in an editorial that the case was like "a giant boulder that is paralysing the entire political framework".
"This is more than a simple verdict," La Stampa said.
The final appeal hearing is expected to start later on Tuesday but Italian media reported that the actual verdict may come only on Wednesday and there is a possibility that the case could be adjourned until September.
The verdict will be a milestone in the history of legal woes and sex scandals that have dogged Berlusconi's 20 years on the Italian political scene including three terms as prime minister.
In other court cases, Berlusconi has been convicted of having sex with an underage prostitute, abusing his powers as prime minister and publishing a secret police wiretap to damage a political rival.
He denies all charges and is appealing against those rulings, accusing prosecutors of being politically biased and pursuing a vendetta against him.
Even if the court upholds Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction, the Senate would still have to vote to allow the sentence to be implemented since Berlusconi has a seat in the upper house of parliament.
Legal experts say there is virtually no chance of Berlusconi being sent to prison because of lenient sentencing guidelines for over-70s in Italy.
There is however a possibility that the media magnate could be put under house arrest in his luxury villa in Milan or placed in the care of social services.
The political ban would eject the 76-year-old from the Senate and prevent him from running for office.
Berlusconi could however remain as a figurehead leader of his centre-right People of Freedom party.
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