Convicted Sicilian Mafia mobster Giuseppe Graviano has told an Italian court he met former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi while on the run from justice.
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Graviano, who is serving a life sentence for his role in a murderous Mafia bombing campaign in the early 1990s, spoke while testifying in a trial in which he is accused of killing two policemen.
He addressed the court via video link from prison.
RAI public television, the ANSA news agency and other media published extracts of his testimony
"I met Silvio Berlusconi three times in Milan while I was a fugitive," ANSA quoted Graviano as saying.
The last meeting supposedly took place in December 1993, a month before Graviano's arrest and Berlusconi's announcement that he was entering politics.
In a statement, Berlusconi's lawyer Nicolo Ghedini called Graviano's remarks "completely and manifestly unfounded, detached from reality as well clearly libellous".
Noting that Graviano was speaking about Berlusconi only 26 after years his arrest, Ghedini suggested that he was making up stories in the hope of securing "benefits" in sentencing or prison conditions.
Australian Associated Press
