ROME, Oct 30: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills will face trial for corruption, a Milan judge decided Monday, the ANSA news agency reported.

Milan judge Fabio Paparella decided to try the colourful Berlusconi along with Mills over a 600,000 dollar payment the former premier made to the British lawyer allegedly in exchange for favorable evidence in two corruption trials.

The prosecutors say they have evidence to show that the payment, made in 1997 by Berlusconi’s family firm Fininvest, served to persuade the lawyer to give false evidence during two trials relating to Berlusconi’s business dealings. The trial will begin on March 13.

Prosecutors in Milan formally lodged charges against the two men in March, the month before Berlusconi, now 70, lost close-fought parliamentary elections after five years in power to center-left leader Romano Prodi.

Mr Berlusconi, Italy’s richest man, has long been embroiled in legal entanglements stemming from his vast business empire, which includes a private TV network, a publishing conglomerate, insurance companies and department stores.

Cases related to his business dealings have landed Berlusconi in court for eight separate trials on charges including corruption, tax fraud, false accounting and illegally financing political parties.

Among the most serious charges against him were allegations of bribing judges in business deals.

The staunchly anti-communist Berlusconi, who has consistently denied wrongdoing, has long alleged bias on the part of “red judges” in the Milan judiciary who he claims are out to destroy him.

Paparella committed Berlusconi for trial on charges of tax fraud, false accounting and misuse of company assets in July. That trial is to begin on Nov 21.—AFP