Former Lower House Speaker and
ex-foreign minister Gianfranco Fini was given a jail term of two
years, eight months by a Rome court on Tuesday in relation to
the purchase of a flat in Monte Carlo.
In Italy convictions are not considered definitive until the
appeals process has been exhausted in the nation's three-tier
justice system.
The 72-year-old former leader of the now-defunct right-wing
National Alliance (AN) said he was "not disappointed" after the
ruling, while expressing doubts about it.
"I was not held responsible for money laundering, so evidently
the only thing that prevented my acquittal was the authorisation
for the sale of the flat, which was clearly not authorised by
me," he said.
"I am leaving (the courtroom) more serene than one might think
after seven years on trial.
"After so much talk, after so much controversy, so many
accusations, so much denigration from a political point of view,
what I am guilty of? Authorising the sale.
"It is not clear to me what the offence is".
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