Berlusconi vows he won't step down

ROME, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Friday he has no intention of resigning.

His comments came two days after Italy's highest court declared unconstitutional a law granting him immunity from prosecution.

"I am the best prime minister ever," Berlusconi said at a news conference, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing Italian news media. "I am absolutely the politician most persecuted by prosecutors in the entire history of the world throughout the ages."

The law the court found unconstitutional would have provided immunity to Italy's top four officials -- the president, the speakers of the two chambers of parliament and the prime minister -- while they are in office.

Berlusconi has been charged with corruption, tax fraud, false accounting and illegally financing political parties, but never convicted.