In this Oct. 19, 2012 file photo former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi salutes as he arrives for a court hearing in Milan. A court in Italy has convicted, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/Gian Mattia D'Alberto, Lapresse, File)
In a rambling 50-minute speech Saturday, Berlusconi lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel, criticized Italian Premier Mario Monti's fiscal reforms and complained that Italy is now beholden to a "dictatorship of magistrates."
He announced what sounded like a political platform to undo many of the reforms Monti has instituted in the year since he replaced Berlusconi. But Berlusconi insisted he wasn't running for office, merely that he was launching an undefined "action" to reform Italy's justice system.
A Milan court on Friday sentenced Berlusconi to four years in prison and barred him from public office for five years.
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