A Milan judge on Saturday ordered Silvio Berlusconi to be tried on corruption charges, damping the former Italian premier's hopes of running soon for office again after being sidelined by a tax-fraud conviction. The Italian news agency ANSA, reporting from Milan, said Judge Carlo Ottone De Marchi, after a hearing on an indictment request by prosecutors, set the trial to begin April 5 in that city. One of them, Federico Cecconi, told reporters Berlusconi faces "the first trial for the crime of generosity." His corruption case, which led to Saturday's indictment, had been separated from those of others due to his health issues. Berlusconi says in his case, being stripped from office amounts to retroactive punishment, since the tax fraud case dates back before 2012.

Source: ABC News January 28, 2017 15:40 UTC