Doctor says Berlusconi's eye condition 'should not prevent him attending court' as tax fraud appeal goes ahead in his absence

Former Prime Minister admitted to hospital on Friday with eye problem
Also missed trial for having sex with an underage prostitute
Physician rules condition is not 'legitimate impediment' to him appearing
Verdicts in both cases expected soon as Italy remains in political deadlock

PUBLISHED: 13:21 EST, 9 March 2013 | UPDATED: 05:46 EST, 10 March 2013

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has missed two separate trial hearings while in hospital with an eye condition

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi remains in hospital with an eye condition as judges ruled his tax fraud appeal can go ahead without him.

The 76-year-old was given a four-year jail sentence for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his television network Mediase.

He is also accused of having sex with an underage teenage prostitute at a party at his Milan villa.

But he missed his sex trial yesterday after being hospitalised with an eye problem.

The case was in its final stages when his lawyers asked for the trial to be adjourned to allow him to be treated.

The politician is said to be suffering with bilateral uveitis, which causes 'pain, intolerance of light and disturbed vision'. His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said it is best treated in hospital.

But today the court in his tax fraud case sent a physician to examine him who ruled his problem was not a 'legitimate impediment' to him appearing in court.

'It's been rejected, we are carrying on,' one of Berlusconi's lawyers told Reuters.

The ruling meant the appeals hearing could go ahead with or without the defendant being present.

A final ruling in the sex case had been expected on March 18 but it was not clear if the adjournment would cause a delay.

Berlusconi has always denied any wrongdoing, and said on Thursday that all the charges against him were 'judicial persecution... which re-emerges every time there are politically complex moments in the political life of our country.'

More...

Under Italian law he has a right to be present at all his trial hearings.

Italian judges sent a physician to examine Berlusconi today who ruled his eye condition was not a 'legitimate impediment' to him appearing in court

On Monday, the prosecution in the sex trial said parties at Berlusconi's Milan villa were arranged for prostitution and were not the elegant dinners he suggested.

The parties involved dinner, erotic 'bunga bunga' dancing and then sex between aspiring female TV stars and invited guests, prosecutor Antonio Sangermano said.

The sex charges against Berlusconi are thought to be the most damaging of the three the politician is currently facing.

Lawyers have also asked that a hearing scheduled for Saturday appealing his four-year prison sentence for tax fraud be postponed because of his eye problem.

Prosecutors are seeking to confirm the sentence, which includes a five-year ban on holding public office.

Both the sex-for-hire and tax fraud cases are nearing verdicts at a particularly sensitive time politically for Italy.

In last week's inconclusive election Berlusconi fell short of a victory, even though he rallied his supporters and performed better than expected.

Berlusconi was convicted three times during the 1990s, before being either cleared by higher courts or benefiting from the statute of limitations by which cases expire if a final verdict is not reached within a given time period.

On Thursday, an Italian court sentenced Berlusconi to one year in jail over the publication by his family's newspaper of a transcript of a leaked wiretap connected to a banking scandal in 2006.

In that case, the statute of limitations for the charges expires in September, before the appeals process can be completed, legal sources said.

He also is being investigated in Naples for allegedly having paid 3 million euros (£2.6 million) to a lawmaker to defect to his party, a move that significantly weakened the former government of Romano Prodi. Prodi was heard by prosecutors on Friday in the case, according to Italian news reports.