(see previous).
A decision on ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi spending 10 months doing social work or under house
arrest after a tax-fraud conviction will take "from five to 15
days", the head of the Milan court weighing the issue said
Thursday.
"The decision will be issued within a minimum of five days
and a maximum of 15 days," said Pasquale Nobile De Santis.
Berlusconi has applied to do community service and could
work as little as half a day a week at a disabled home.
But he might get longer duty in another capacity.
If he gets house arrest it would seriously curb his ability
to lead his reanimated centre-right opposition Forza Italia (FI)
party in May 25 European elections, a key test of FI's desire to
stay Italy's second most-popular party behind the ruling
Democratic Party.
At 77, the charismatic conservative chief and media magnate
is too old to be put in prison under accepted Italian legal
practice.
As expected, the court's prosecutor-general, Antonio
Lamanna, recommended it grant Berlusconi's plea to get social
work rather than house arrest.
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