ROME- Silvio Berlusconi will serve his sentence for tax fraud by completing community service caring for the elderly, according to the ruling pronounced Tuesday by the Surveillance Court.

 The former prime minister will have to spend at least four hours a week at an elderly care centre in Cesano Boscone in the province of Milan administered by the Sacra Famiglia foundation.

 Apart from determining the character of Mr Berlusconi’s punishment, the court set travel restrictions for the politician, who from now on will not be allowed to travel outside the Lombardy region, with the exception of short trips to Rome from Tuesdays to Thursdays.

 The leader of the right-wing political party Forza Italia and owner of the largest commercial broadcaster in the country was sentenced to four years for fiscal fraud in the Mediaset case. It was the first time that Mr Berlusconi received a clear irrevocable sentence, after past trials. However, due to his age, the convicted man was not going to serve his sentence in prison, but rather, carrying out social service duties.

 An initial proposal suggested that the former prime minister would assist the elderly and the disabled, at a location situated not far from where Mr. Berlusconi lives in Arcore, Italy. The doctors recommended, after his knee injury, that he remain home, and the same was suggested by his lawyers.

 Local External Penal Execution offices (UEPE) issued a list of prescriptions for Mr Berlusconi, which forbid the ex-prime minister to visit criminals or drug addicts. He is not allowed to leave his house from 11pm to 6am.

 The rehabilitation process will need to be deemed positive by Milan’s UEPE. Mr Berlusconi will have to speak with social assistants, and consider his state after the first semester as optimistic. Mr Berlusconi could be released 45 days early.