Image caption Silvio Berlusconi proclaimed his innocence in a video message after the verdict 
 
 Italy's highest court has upheld a prison sentence given to former PM Silvio Berlusconi for tax evasion. 
 
 The court also ordered a further judicial review on whether he should be banned from holding public office. 
 
 In an emotional video statement, Berlusconi denounced the decision as "based on nothing, and which deprives me of my freedom and political rights". 
 
 The sentence cannot be appealed against further but Berlusconi, 76, is unlikely to go to jail because of his age. 
 
 The ruling by the Court of Cassation in Rome came after a three-day hearing. Berlusconi was not in court. 
 
 The former prime minister was sentenced to four years in prison at the conclusion of the trial last October, though this was automatically reduced to a year under a 2006 pardon law. 
 
 Berlusconi is likely to serve house arrest or carry out community service. 
 
 His lawyers described Thursday's ruling as "unjust". 
 
 Analysis The courtroom dramas of Silvio Berlusconi are part of the backdrop to Italian life. The nation has watched around two dozen trials unfold over nearly 20 years. But until now they have never seen Berlusconi definitively convicted. And there can be no appeal. This damning judgement will forever be part of his record - and he will surely see this as one of the darkest moments in his extraordinary political career. But it could have been even worse: the judges did not uphold the order that would have barred Berlusconi from public office. That will be re-examined by a lower court. So Berlusconi is certainly down, but not entirely out. He has been diminished and humiliated, but even now it might be a mistake to bet against him. 
 
 They had been hoping to overturn his conviction in a case involving television rights bought by his company Mediaset. 
 
 It is the billionaire businessman's first definitive conviction after decades of criminal prosecutions. 
 
 In his video message after the court's decision he said: "I never devised any system of fiscal fraud. No false invoice exists in the history of Mediaset." 
 
 Berlusconi said he was the victim of "an incredible series of accusations and trials that had nothing to do with reality". 
 
 He described the more than 50 court cases he has faced as "genuine judicial harassment that is unmatched in the civilised world". 
 
 Still in senate 
 
 The review of the lower court's five-year ban on holding public office means Berlusconi can remain as a senator and as leader of his centre-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) for now. 
 
 The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says the former prime minister will be relieved that judges ordered a review of the political ban. 
 
 Berlusconi's political grouping forms part of Italy's coalition government. Prime Minister Enrico Letta needs both the PDL and his own centre-left Democratic Party to govern. 
 
 Image caption Opponents of Silvio Berlusconi celebrated Thursday's court ruling 
 
 In a statement after the court ruling, Mr Letta urged "a climate of serenity" for the good of the country. 
 
 President Giorgio Napolitano also urged the country to stay calm. 
 
 "The country needs to rediscover serenity and cohesion on vitally important institutional matters that have for too long seen it divided and unable to enact reforms," he said. 
 
 A former minister and ally of Berlusconi, Nitto Palma, told Reuters on leaving a PDL meeting that there was a lot of bitterness about the verdict. 
 
 However, the sentence would not affect the Letta government, he said. 
 
 Berlusconi's legal team said there were "solid reasons" why their client should have been acquitted, and they would "evaluate and pursue any useful initiative, also in Europe, to make sure that this unjust sentence is radically reformed". 
 
 Anti-establishment politician Beppe Grillo welcomed the court ruling, comparing the sentence to the fall of the Berlin Wall. 
 
 In a statement on his blog, Mr Grillo said Berlusconi had "polluted, corrupted and paralysed Italian politics for 21 years". 
 
 'Vendetta' 
 
 Image caption Berlusconi remained at his Rome residence, Palazza Grazioli, while the judges delivered their verdict 
 
 The original ruling last October found that Berlusconi's Mediaset media empire had inflated the price it had paid for film distribution rights to avoid paying taxes. 
 
 He was labelled the "author of a whole system of tax fraud". 
 
 The three-time prime minister has faced a string of trials since leaving office in November 2011. 
 
 Appeals are pending in other cases in which he was convicted of having paid for sex with an under-age prostitute, and arranging for a police wiretap to be leaked and published in a newspaper. 
 
 Two other cases of alleged tax evasion, one of them involving British lawyer David Mills, expired under the statute of limitations. ||||| ROME Italy's supreme court on Thursday upheld a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud in a devastating blow to the four-times prime minister that could throw the country's fragile coalition government into crisis. 
 
 The former cruise ship crooner is Italy's most colorful and scandal-prone figure but it was his first definitive conviction in up to 30 court cases on charges ranging from fraud and corruption to having sex with an underage prostitute. 
 
 After a three-day hearing, the five judges of the supreme court rejected Berlusconi's final appeal against a verdict handed down by two lower courts which sentenced the media mogul to four years in jail - commuted to one year under an amnesty. 
 
 But the top judges ordered a review by a Milan court of the second part of his sentence, a five-year ban from public office. This will enable him to remain a senator and leader of his center-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) for the moment. 
 
 In a sober video message after the verdict, Berlusconi proclaimed his total innocence and launched a bitter attack on magistrates he said had hounded him for 20 years and become an undemocratic rival power to the state. 
 
 Looking shaken, he vowed to press ahead in politics with the refoundation of his original political party, Forza Italia, through the mobilization of young people, and a reform of the justice system. But he acknowledged that he had "arrived almost at the end of my working life." 
 
 Berlusconi, Italy's longest serving premier, had previously said the government must not fall whatever the verdict but he made no mention of this in his video address. 
 
 The 76-year-old billionaire who has dominated politics for 20 years and been prime minister four times, was convicted for inflating the price paid for television rights by his Mediaset media empire and skimming off part of the money to create slush funds. 
 
 Because of his age he is likely to serve the sentence either through community service or under house arrest. 
 
 He accuses leftist magistrates of relentlessly trying to remove him from politics since he stormed onto the scene in 1994 after a corruption scandal wiped out the old order. 
 
 The verdict could not only mark the twilight of his long career but destabilize the three-month-old government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta and potentially send tremors across the euro zone. 
 
 The bloc's third-largest economy is ruled by a fractious coalition of Letta's center-left Democratic Party (PD) and Berlusconi's PDL. 
 
 President Giorgio Napolitano, architect of Letta's coalition after a two month hiatus following inconclusive elections in February, quickly issued a statement urging calm and national cohesion. He called for trust and respect for the judiciary. 
 
 Letta echoed his comments, calling for calm and saying the nation's interests must come before those of individuals. 
 
 DANGER OF POLITICAL TURMOIL 
 
 PDL hawks had called for a mass walkout of its ministers and public protests including blocking motorways if he was convicted. 
 
 His supporters demonstrated outside his central Rome home before the verdict, disrupting traffic. 
 
 A greater threat to the government could come from the faction-ridden PD, many of whose members are already unhappy with ruling in coalition with Berlusconi's party and could rebel following his first definitive conviction. 
 
 A close Berlusconi ally, former Justice Minister Francesco Nitto Palma, said after meeting the former premier that the verdict "will not affect the Letta government, which was created to serve the country." 
 
 But comments from other politicians, on the left and right, were less harmonious. 
 
 Luca d'Alessandro, head of the PDL parliamentary justice committee said: "This country used to be famous as the cradle of law. Today it has become its tomb, run by a corporation of grave diggers in gowns who have carried out the perfect crime." 
 
 The leader of Letta's PD, Guglielmo Epifani said, "The sentence has to be respected and carried out." 
 
 Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement that stunned mainstream politicians by taking a quarter of the vote in the February election, hailed the sentence on his blog: "The verdict is like the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989." 
 
 Investors have hitherto shown little concern, with the main barometer of market confidence, the spread between Italian 10 year bond yields and their safer German counterparts, at 270 basis points, well below levels seen during earlier crises. 
 
 But markets were closed before the verdict came out. 
 
 Napolitano and Letta are adamant that Italy cannot afford more instability as it struggles to climb out of its worst postwar recession. 
 
 There has been speculation that Berlusconi's oldest daughter, Marina, 46 and chairwoman of his Fininvest holding company, could become the PDL's figurehead if he was convicted. 
 
 Both major parties may be reluctant to precipitate an election that might produce an even more chaotic result than the February vote in which Grillo surged to prominence. 
 
 But the verdict could add to inertia which has prevented Letta's fractious government from passing urgently needed economic reforms. 
 
 The supreme court decision is not Berlusconi's only legal headache. He is also appealing in a lower court against a seven-year jail sentence imposed in June for abuse of office and paying for sex with Moroccan-born nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, alias "Ruby the Heartstealer", when she was underage. 
 
 (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) ||||| Italy's three-time former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for the first time in two decades of criminal prosecutions related to his media empire was definitively convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison Thursday by the nation's highest court. 
 
 Italy's highest court President Antonio Esposito arrives to read the sentence confirming a four year term for Italian media Mogul and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud in Rome, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Francesca Pascale, the girlfriend of Italian former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, waits with bodyguards inside an ice-cream shop, near his residence in Rome, Tuesday, July 30, 2013. Berlusconi is waiting... (Associated Press) 
 
 Italy's highest court President Antonio Esposito, third right, read the sentence confirming a four year term for Italian media Mogul and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud in Rome, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this file photo taken June 17, 2003 Silvio Berlusconi shows some files as he addresses the Law court in Milan, Italy. Italy’s top court confirmed Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 Berlusconi tax fraud... (Associated Press) 
 
 News cameramen wait outside Grazioli palace, Silvio Berlusconi's residence in Rome, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. Berlusconi's fate is hanging in the balance as Italy's highest court deliberates his appeal... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this file photo taken June 17, 2003 Silvio Berlusconi adjusts his tie before addressing the Law court in Milan, Italy. Italy’s top court confirmed Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 Berlusconi tax fraud... (Associated Press) 
 
 A demonstrator holds a sign reading in Italian "Guilty for the justice, acquitted by the political system" outside Italy’s highest court building where Berlusconi's case on tax fraud will be decided in... (Associated Press) 
 
 The tensely awaited decision was described as a historical moment by opposition politicians and puts fresh pressure on Premier Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government. He needs the support of both Berlusconi supporters and his own center-left Democratic Party to push through reforms to get Italy out of recession, and the ruling is likely to have a destabilizing impact. 
 
 Judge Antonio Esposito, in reading the court's decision, declared Berlusconi's conviction and prison term were `'irrevocable," though he ordered another court to review the length of a ban on public office. 
 
 Lower courts had put it at five years, but a state prosecutor recommended in its arguments this week that it be lowed to three, citing conflicts in the relevant sentencing laws. 
 
 How the government is affected by the ruling is likely to emerge in comings days. On the one side, Berlusconi supporters may withdraw support in protest, while center-left lawmakers may find it unpalatable to continue in a coalition with a party whose leader has been convicted of defrauding the state of tax income. 
 
 Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement, declared on his blog: `'Berlusconi is dead." He compared the conviction to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that helped bring down Soviet communism. 
 
 Berlusconi's exit from the political scene he has dominated for two decades is unlikely to be quiet. A Milan appeals court will now have to determine the length of a public office ban. And then, the Senate, where Berlusconi holds a seat, will have to debate and vote on revoking his seat as part of a process that can stretch for months, if not a year. If the Senate opposes it and refuses to formally revoke Berlusconi's seat, the high court could turn to the constitutional court in a bid to resolve the standoff. 
 
 Berlusconi is highly unlikely to actually go to prison. Three years will be shaved off as part of a general pardon for crimes committed before 2006 aimed at easing prison crowding, and it is unusual for defendants to serve sentences of just one year for a first offense, particularly at Berlusconi's age, 76. He would likely be given the choice to serve the remaining year under house confinement or opt for social services. 
 
 Berlusconi awaited the sentence at his residence in central Rome with his lawyers, deputy party leader Angelino Alfano and his eldest daughter, Marina, all of whom were seen entering the building in the hours leading up to the announcement. He issued no immediate reaction. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Barry contributed from Milan. ||||| ROME — For years, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi deftly navigated the labyrinth of Italian justice, always finding an exit — until Thursday, when Italy’s highest court handed him his first definitive sentence, upholding a prison term for tax fraud and sending Italy’s fragile government on the road to crisis. 
 
 The court called for a re-examination of a ban on Mr. Berlusconi’s holding public office, but did not reject the ban. This staved off the imminent collapse of the right-left coalition of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which was formed to tackle Italy’s dire economy — but probably only bought it more time. 
 
 Parts of Mr. Letta’s center-left Democratic Party are reluctant to share power with a now-convicted criminal. Meanwhile, the center-right People of Liberty party looked poised to split between Berlusconi loyalists and those seeking more independence from the former prime minister in a future bloc. 
 
 “The barometer signals a very strong storm,” said Giovanni Orsina, professor of contemporary history at LUISS Guido Carli and author of “Understanding Berlusconi.” “I expect a lot of quake tremors in the next few days, but I think that the government will survive.” 
 
 The Court of Cassation confirmed Mr. Berlusconi’s four-year prison sentence, which had already been reduced to one year under a law aimed at combating prison overcrowding. 
 
 Two lower courts had convicted Mr. Berlusconi and other defendants on charges of buying the rights to broadcast American movies on his Mediaset networks through a series of offshore companies and falsely declaring how much they paid to avoid taxes. 
 
 In other cases over the past 20 years, Mr. Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister, has been convicted of tax evasion, buying judges and embezzlement, but was either acquitted on appeal or the statute of limitations had run out. (A trial in which Mr. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a minor is continuing.) 
 
 Thursday’s ruling, like everything about Mr. Berlusconi, polarized Italy. Some of the former prime minister’s loyalists called it the equivalent of a judicial coup d’état, while his critics called it tantamount to Al Capone being convicted of tax evasion. 
 
 After the ruling, a furious, saddened and uncharacteristically unsmiling Mr. Berlusconi took to the airwaves of Rete4, one of the channels in his Mediaset empire, and declared his innocence, attacking the magistrates who he said had tormented him for 20 years and become an antidemocratic force within Italy. 
 
 “The sentence is absolutely groundless and violates my personal liberty and my rights,” Mr. Berlusconi said. 
 
 The man who once called himself “the politician most persecuted by prosecutors in the entire history of the world throughout the ages,” added that he would once again create Forza Italia, the party he founded in 1994. He had dissolved that party to form People of Liberty with another right-wing party. “Long live Italy, long live Forza Italia,” he concluded. 
 
 Mr. Berlusconi is widely seen as wanting to stay in public office in the hope of wielding the political influence he needs to protect his business interests. 
 
 Thursday’s ruling did not automatically send Mr. Berlusconi to prison or house arrest. It is up to the same appeals court in Milan that convicted him to formally request his arrest. Mr. Berlusconi’s lawyers can also request a suspended sentence. 
 
 Experts said that considering his age, 76, Mr. Berlusconi would more likely face house arrest or community service than prison. 
 
 Opposition politicians immediately called for Mr. Berlusconi to resign from Parliament. 
 
 Vito Crimi, a member of Parliament from the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo, called it “shameful” that Mr. Berlusconi would stay in public office. 
 
 In other circumstances, the ruling might have dealt a final blow to Mr. Berlusconi’s role in politics. But today Mr. Berlusconi, who came back from the dead in national elections in February, is an element of stability in the coalition government.
– Silvio Berlusconi has had his share of bad days in court in recent years, but none worse than today. Italy's top court upheld his tax-fraud conviction and related one-year jail sentence, and almost every story calls it his "first definitive conviction" or some close variation after all his various charges. (See Reuters, AP, the BBC, and the New York Times.) The verdict could "mark the twilight of his long career," destabilize the 3-month-old government, and "potentially send tremors across the euro zone," adds Reuters. As for Berlusconi himself, don't expect to see him head to jail anytime soon. The AP thinks it's highly unlikely that a court would send a 76-year-old first-time offender to prison, especially for only a one-year sentence. More likely is probation or perhaps house arrest. That decision is back in the hands of the lower court in Milan. The former prime minister might even be able to keep his current seat in the Senate, because the top court today also ordered a review of a five-year ban from public office imposed by the lower court.