ECHR closes Berlusconi case, no verdict

(ANSA) - Strasbourg, November 27 - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday closed Silvio Berlusconi's appeal against his office ban and ejection from the Senate without issuing a sentence, as the three-time ex-premier had asked.
    The verdict was moot since the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) leader's office ban ran out in April.
    It will thus not be known whether, according to EU law, Italy was right to apply the Severino Law as a result of a tax evasion conviction.
    The court therefore did not say whether Berlusconi's rights had been violated or not. Berlusconi's lawyers said that the ECHR ruling had not been needed since Berlusconi's ban ran out in April, but that the court would have been favourable to the media magnate turned politician.
    "There was no more interest in obtaining a decision that we believe would have been favourable," they said.
    They also said a possible verdict against Italy would have brought "further tensions in the already complicated life of the country, a circumstance which (ex) premier Berlusconi wanted to absolutely avoid".