Italy's former PM Silvio Berlusconi in hospital after Covid scare
Italy’s former PM Silvio Berlusconi, 84, is admitted to hospital again following coronavirus health scare earlier this year
- Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalised with coronavirus in September last year
- He has been in and out of hospital several times since with deteriorating health
- Berlusconi has survived a number of health scares as well as political scandals
- He remains an MP and is the leader of the opposition Forza Italia party
- Investigations into corruption on the part of Berlusconi are ongoing
Former Italian prime minister and billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi has been admitted to hospital for tests, his spokesman confirmed Friday.
Berlusconi has been in and out of hospital all year due to complications relating to a coronavirus infection which saw him hospitalised for 11 days last September.
The former premier dominated public life in Italy for decades and he remains a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for his Forza Italia party.
But he has been set back by a string of health issues in recent years, including open heart surgery in 2016.
‘Hospitalisation was required for a thorough clinical evaluation,’ his spokesman said after media reports that the 84-year-old was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Thursday.
Berlusconi has been in and out of hospital all year due to complications relating to a coronavirus infection which saw him hospitalised for 11 days last September
The former owner of AC Milan, who made his media fortune in the 1960s, entered politics in early 1994 and served three separate terms as the Italian prime minister.
He has been embroiled in countless investigations over the course of his career and has been convicted of tax fraud, but has also been accused of many other crimes including embezzlement, bribery, abuse of office and child prostitution.
Despite the investigations, Berlusconi was elected back into parliament in 2019, further prolonging his decades-long career in Italian politics.
Berlusconi has also had a string of health issues in the past two decades.
In late 2006 he was admitted to hospital with a minor heart problem after fainting, and underwent heart surgery in a US hospital in January 2007.
He later had major heart surgery in 2016 and has also survived prostate cancer, which he revealed in 2000 after having endured the disease for three years.
At the time he described his cancer battle as ‘a nightmare lasting months’, but said his battle with coronavirus last September has been the ‘most dangerous challenge’ of his life.
Berlusconi is currently on trial alongside 28 other defendants over money he is alleged to have paid to host ‘bunga bunga’ parties.
The former Prime Minister was previously convicted of paying £6 million to underage Moroccan prostitute Karima El Mahroug, also known as ‘Ruby the heart-stealer’ for sexual services between February and May 2010, but was later found not guilty on appeal.
The former Italian Prime Minister is currently at San Raffaele Hospital on the outskirts of Milan (pictured)
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