Silvio Berlusconi sentenced to year in prison Mr Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an under age prostitute, can appeal the conviction which would suspend the sentence under Italian law. Earlier, Italy's highest appeals court upheld a ruling clearing Mr Berlusconi of tax fraud in connection with his Mediatrade broadcasting rights firm. The decision late on Wednesday clears Mr Berlusconi, 76, of accusations that Mediatrade, the broadcast rights unit of his Mediaset group, acquired film and television rights at inflated prices to evade 10 million euros in taxes in 2004. The rulings come in the middle of a complex Italian political stalemate following last week's inconclusive election, which left no party able to form a government on its own. Mr Berlusconi's centre-right formation is the second-strongest group in parliament. But its prospects of a return to government have been held back by the refusal of centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to accept a "grand coalition" with his long-standing rivals. More to follow