Berlusconi slams judge in bribery case

ROME, May 20 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday a judge's finding that his British lawyer committed perjury was based on political bias.

Nicoletta Gandus' report, explaining her reasons for giving David Mills more than four years in prison, was released Tuesday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Mills, the estranged husband of Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, said Wednesday that he expects his conviction to be reversed on appeal.

Gandus was motivated by "political hatred and jealousy," Berlusconi said. His political party, People of Freedom, questioned the timing, suggesting the judge hopes to influence the results of elections for local offices and the European parliament.

Berlusconi has headed the Italian government for a total of almost eight years off and on. Several corruption convictions have been overturned by appeals courts or have become moot because of new laws on the statute of limitations.

Mills was convicted of accepting a large bribe from Berlusconi to lie for him in the late 1990s.