Italian Premier Mario Monti delivers his speech at the Foreign Ministry for the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti pledged to resign as soon as the budget law is passed after Silvio Berlusconi yanked support for his government, accelerating national elections now expected in February. The budget law was approved Friday afternoon. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Italian Premier Mario Monti delivers his speech at the Foreign Ministry for the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti pledged to resign as soon as the budget law is passed after Silvio Berlusconi yanked support for his government, accelerating national elections now expected in February. The budget law was approved Friday afternoon. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Italian Premier Mario Monti poses for a family picture at the end of his speech at the Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti's speech in Rome was his last official act as premier. He has pledged to step down as soon as Parliament gives final passage to the budget law, which happened just as diplomats were giving Monti a standing ovation. Italian news reports say he is expected to hand in his resignation Friday evening after his last Cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Italian Premier Mario Monti delivers his speech at the Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the Italian Ambassadors conference in Rome, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. Monti's speech in Rome was his last official act as premier. He has pledged to step down as soon as Parliament gives final passage to the budget law, which happened just as diplomats were giving Monti a standing ovation. Italian news reports say he is expected to hand in his resignation Friday evening after his last Cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Doctor Francesco Bandello speaks during a news conference at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi remains hospitalized with an eye inflammation that kept him from both his sex-for-hire trial and tax fraud appeals. San Raffaele hospital's chief ophthalmologist, Francesco Bandello, said Saturday that Berlusconi's condition had only moderately improved overnight. The 76-year-old Berlusconi has bilateral uveitis and was expected to remain hospitalized at least until Sunday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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A PDL party supporter stands at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was being treated in a Milan hospital for eye inflammation that prevented him from attending his sex-for-hire trial. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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The car of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is parked at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was being treated in a Milan hospital for eye inflammation that prevented him from attending his sex-for-hire trial. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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The car of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is parked at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 8, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi was being treated Friday in a Milan hospital for eye inflammation that prevented him from attending his sex-for-hire trial. Berlusconi was suffering from bilateral unveitis, an inflammation of the eyes, and could be kept in the hospital overnight, said Dr. Alberto Zangrillo, Berlusconi's personal physician. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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PDL party supporters stand at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was being treated in a Milan hospital for eye inflammation that prevented him from attending his sex-for-hire trial. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
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Italian Premier Mario Monti gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Rome, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. Italy's caretaker Premier Mario Monti said Sunday he won't run in February elections, but if political parties that back his anti-crisis agenda ask him to head the next government he would consider the offer. Monti ruled out heading any ticket himself, saying "I have no sympathy for 'personal' parties." At a news conference, Monti made clear he was spurning an offer from his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi to run on a center-right election ticket backed by the media mogul, citing Berlusconi's heavy criticism of his economic policies. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Italian Premier Mario Monti arrives to take part in the Italian State TV RAI's show "In Mezz'ora" (In half an hour) in Rome, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. After keeping the country wondering for weeks, caretaker Premier Mario Monti on Sunday ruled out running in February elections, but offered to willingness to head the next government if political forces sharing his austerity and reform-focused agenda ask him to do so. Monti ruled out heading any ticket himself, saying "I have no sympathy for 'personal' parties." But he coyly made himself available to serve as premier while Italy works to shore up its finances and struggles to emerge from recession. (AP Photo/Mauro Scrobogna, Lapresse)
Court delays Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial
MILAN (AP) — A Milan court on Wednesday delayed former Premier
Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial after receiving new medical documents confirming that an eye inflammation has prevented his attendance.
Berlusconi has been hospitalized since Friday, and his legal team has sought delays in two trials that are nearing verdicts at a politically delicate moment for Italy.
Berlusconi's center-right coalition finished second in last month's inconclusive election. Parliament is to convene Friday, setting the stage for talks on forming a new government.
Both courts have asked for court-appointed doctors to certify his condition, enraging lawmakers in Berlusconi's center-right coalition who marched on the Milan courthouse earlier this week. The protesters allege that magistrates are trying to sideline Berlusconi legally, following his surprisingly strong showing during the February election.
The courthouse protest drew criticism from political opponents, who said it undermined Italy's judicial system. President Giorgio Napolitano convened lawmakers to discuss the action and urged all sides to show balance.
Berlusconi's sex-for-hire case's next session will be Monday, with two more hearings later in the week and another March 25. That's unusual in Italy, where trials often are held just once a week.
Berlusconi is accused of having paid for sex with an under-age Moroccan teen during one of the now-infamous "bunga bunga" parties at his villa, then trying to cover it up.
Berlusconi told Panorama news magazine about the seriousness of his eye ailment, which has kept him hospitalized for six days.
"Good sense says that I would be someplace else representing the interests of 9 million voters," Berlusconi was quoted as saying.
A Milan court is also hearing Berlusconi's appeal on a tax fraud conviction, which led to a four-year sentence in October. The court went on with the hearing as scheduled Saturday after court doctors visited Berlusconi and said his condition was not serious enough to keep him away from court.
Doctors have since said Berlusconi also has suffered heart issues.
A judge in Naples is also considering prosecutors' request for an accelerated trial against Berlusconi on corruption charges for allegedly having paid a lawmaker €3 million ($3.9 million) to switch to his party, a move that seriously weakened the previous government of Romano Prodi. The lawmaker has admitted accepting €2 million under the table.
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