Al Jazeera News :Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to three years in jail for bribing a senator to switch factions in a move which helped topple the then government in 2008.The court in southern Italian city of Naples also banned him from holding any public office for five years, the judge said on Wednesday.But the 78-year-old will not actually have to serve any time in prison because of legal technicalities, his lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, said.Ghedini slammed the verdict as “unjust and unjustified” but said the case would reach its statute of limitations on November 6.Since no legal action can be taken after that date, the guilty verdict will have no legal consequences for Berlusconi as there is not enough time for his case to come to be judged on appeal.
