BBC News
Mr Previti, a close ally of outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was given a six-year jail sentence for bribing judges. The 2005 sentence was upheld on Thursday by Italy's highest court. Mr Previti, 71, has said he is resigning the parliamentary seat he won last month for Mr Berlusconi's party.
The party, Forza Italia, condemned his conviction as politically motivated. His lawyers appealed to the authorities to allow him to serve the term in the form of house arrest. Mr Previti served in Mr Berlusconi's first government in 1994.
He was formerly a lawyer for Mr Berlusconi's Fininvest holding company. Mr Previti was prosecuted for his role in passing on millions of euros in bribes to judges to help win a favourable ruling in a 1970s takeover of a big petrochemicals firm.
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