ROME (Reuters) - Italian police have arrested Claudio Scajola, industry minister in the last government of ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on suspicion of helping a former party colleague convicted of mafia association to flee justice, authorities said on Thursday.
The case adds one more scandal for Berlusconi's Forza Italia party to deal with following his own conviction for tax evasion But the political fallout, including any impact on the party's vote in the upcoming European election, remains unclear. Scajola was forced to resign in 2010 over accusations of a shady real estate deal involving the purchase of a luxury flat near the Colosseum in Rome but was cleared of wrongdoing by a court earlier this year.
