Bankers guilty in Greek arson deaths

22 July 2013 Last updated at 16:07 GMT Three people in their thirties died in the attack Three bank officials in Greece have been given jail sentences of up to 10 years for failing to protect the lives of staff during a fatal arson attack by anti-austerity protesters in May 2010.

Three Marfin Bank staff members died in the attack on a central Athens branch, including a pregnant woman.

No-one has yet been convicted of causing the fire.

The Marfin branch had refused to allow staff to leave early, unlike other banks in the area.

The arson attack remains one of the most tragic moments of Greece's financial crisis, BBC Athens correspondent Mark Lowen reports.

Youths threw firebombs into the bank during a protest, starting the fatal fire.

The prime minister at the time, George Papandreou said it was a "raw, murderous act" while President Carolos Papoulias declared his country had "reached the edge of the abyss".

Suspended terms

The trial in Athens heard that the defendants had failed to take adequate measures to protect their staff, especially given that the branch had been attacked before. The defendants could have "predicted and prevented the outcome," the court heard.

The managing director of the Cyprus-based bank, Constantinos Vasilakopoulos, and the security head of the Stadiou street branch, Emmanouil Velonakis, were sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and causing bodily harm through negligence.

But the court ruled that the officials would have their terms suspended pending an appeal.

Branch manager Anna Vakalopoulou was given a five-year term while a fourth defendant, the deputy manager, was acquitted.

The court also asked for the case to be re-examined to see if other senior staff were responsible for ''negligent homicide''.

Arson attacks against public and private institutions in Greece have been frequent since the start of the financial crisis.

But street protests in Athens have calmed somewhat, with violent clashes no longer so common, our correspondent says.

Marfin Bank was later rebranded as Cyprus Popular Bank which nearly collapsed during the island's financial crisis in March.

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Berlusconi aides guilty in sex trial

19 July 2013 Last updated at 16:10 GMT Mr Mora, Ms Minetti and Mr Fede are all expected to appeal Three associates of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi have been found guilty of procuring prostitutes for his controversial "bunga bunga" parties.

Emilio Fede, Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti were given jail sentences of between five and seven years.

Last month Mr Berlusconi was given seven years in jail for paying for sex with 17-year-old Karima El Mahroug.

Both Mr Berlusconi and Ms Mahroug deny having had sex, and she says she has never been a prostitute.

Ms Mahroug is one of the women that the three associates in the current trial are alleged to have procured.

Mr Berlusconi is appealing against the earlier ruling, which also banned him from public office. He remains a free man and a member of parliament while he does so.

Mr Berlusconi insists the alleged sex parties were actually dinners where female guests performed "burlesque" dancing.

Raunchy dance

The three convicted in the current trial deny the charges and are likely to appeal.

The prosecution said they used to vet the young women and then introduce them to Mr Berlusconi's soirees at his mansion near Milan, the BBC's Alan Johnston reports from Rome.

The prosecution told the court the evenings would begin with dinner, but become increasingly sexually charged, our correspondent adds.

The court heard of an occasion when Ms Minetti, formerly a showgirl, performed a raunchy dance for the then prime minister.

She appeared dressed as a nun and then stripped down to her underwear.

She told her lawyer by telephone that she was "stunned by the excessive punishment", AFP reports.

Mr Fede, a former talent agent, and Mr Mora, a television host, were also banned from holding public office.

Mr Berlusconi has blamed the multiple legal cases against him on left-wing elements in the judiciary. He says they are determined to smear him and drive him out of politics.

Neither he nor Ms Mahroug was a defendant in the current trial.

However, judges have asked prosecutors to investigate whether he lied when testifying in the three aides' defence and should face further charges.

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