MONACO - Lawyers on Wednesday granted Berlusconi’s request for a ‘legitimate impediment’ to the Ruby Ter trials as he recovers in a hospital in Monaco from heart complications.

  Having been hospitalised for Covid in September and since recovered, his trusted doctor Alberto Zangrillo has ordered for Berlusconi, 84, to be hospitalised once again, discovering problems relating to cardiac arrhythmia. He was taken to the Cardio Thoracic Centre, a specialised hospital in Monaco,  close to the town of Valbonne where he has spent most of lockdown. Zangrillo said that he “didn’t consider it prudent to deal with the transport to Italy.”

  The former Italian Premier was due to be in court in Siena on Wednesday where the Ruby Ter trials are underway, but the judges and prosecutor have given him a ‘legitimate impediment’, allowing him to remain in hospital to recover, postponing the trial until April 8. 

  The trials are investigating many accusations against Berlusconi of corruption and the bribing of witnesses in the "Olgettine" trial. His defence team on Thursday submitted a sudden and spontaneous plea of innocence. 

  On Dec. 15, 2020, Berlusconi first asked for legitimate impediment, citing medical records that showed “serious cardiological problems.” On Nov. 30, 2020, in another of the Ruby Ter trials in Milan, Berlusconi’s lawyers explained that his condition, having supposedly recovered from Covid, had dramatically worsened and that his doctor had advised him to stay at home and avoid all activity.

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