MILAN: Italian judges ordered checks to be made on former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday to verify his claim that health problems meant he was unable to attend his trial on charges of paying for sleeping with a minor. 

The 76-year-old media billionaire, who faces a series of court hearings in separate trials this month, has been in hospital since Friday because of an eye problem that he says has forced him to cancel a number of public appointments.

However, prosecutors believe that his stay in hospital, which falls in the middle of a political crisis caused by last month’s inconclusive elections, may only be a delaying tactic. REUTERS