Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi taken to hospital with ‘heart condition’

The controversial former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been taken to hospital in Milan with a heart problem. The 79-year-old centre-right leader and media mogul, who was prime minister four times, was suffering from what San Raffaele hospital called a “cardiac deficiency”. Berlusconi, who had a pacemaker implanted in a U.S. hospital when he was 70, would undergo tests in the next few days to determine the proper therapy, a hospital statement said. A spokeswoman for his Forza Italia party said his condition was not life threatening.

He wasn’t taken ill and he is fine, calm. This irregularity will be monitored, and he will leave hospital in a few days time.

Forza Italia spokeswoman Deborah Bergamini

The centre-right leader has held the office of Prime Minister a record four times, the last being from May 2008 to November 2011. However, he was expelled from the Italian parliament following his conviction for manipulating tax bills for his television empire Mediaset. He was sentenced to four years in jail, which was reduced to one year and commuted to community service, and banned from holding public office for two years. Berlusconi also made the headlines when found guilty of paying for sex with underage prostitute Karima el Mahroug, also known as Ruby the Heart Stealer.

Berlusconi