Berlusconi vows to 'forge ahead'

ROME, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called corruption charges against him "absurd" Thursday and promised his government would "forge ahead calmly."

Coming a day after Italy's highest court overturned a law granting him immunity from prosecution while in office, Berlusconi's defiant mood seemed to indicate deepening confrontation between the prime minister, political adversaries and the judiciary, The New York Times said.

After deliberating for two days, Italy's Constitutional Court ruled that the law, which grants the nation's four highest officeholders immunity from prosecution while in office, violated a clause guaranteeing equal treatment to all.

"The government will forge ahead calmly, tranquilly and with even more grit than before," Berlusconi said in a radio interview, "because this will be absolutely indispensable for freedom and democracy in this country."

Berlusconi, 73. is already defending himself against sex scandals that have tarnished his international image and attacks from within his own center-right governing coalition.

The ruling related to Berlusconi's involvement in three continuing trials concerning his vast media and real estate holdings.

He called the trials "false, laughable, absurd."