Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has appeared in court to face charges of bribing British lawyer David Mills to give false testimony.

Saturday's hearing was part of the trial on accusations that Berlusconi paid his former lawyer 600-hundred thousand dollars in 1997, to provide false evidence about his business interests. Mills was convicted of taking the bribe and sentenced to four and half years in prison. But a higher court effectively shelved the sentence by ruling that under Italy's statute of limitations, the offence was committed too long ago to be punished.

Berlusconi denies all the charges against him, and says Milan magistrates are politically biased and bent on destroying him. Saturday's appearance was the first time the Prime Minister has turned up in court since an overwhelming number of Italians voted in a recent referendum against trial immunity for ministers.