An Italian court on Thursday acquitted former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of bribing a witness in a 2013 child prostitution case, weeks after he was re-elected to parliament, Reuters reported.

Berlusconi was accused of paying €157,000 to Italian singer Mariano Apicelli for lying in an earlier trial where he was accused of paying for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer.

Berlusconi, leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, which supports the newly appointed government of Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney, was eventually acquitted in the case.

He pleaded not guilty in the bribery trial.

The judges also acquitted Apicella of bribery and alleged perjury, as the time limit for a verdict for such a crime had passed.

Apicella was a regular singer at many of Berlusconi’s so-called Bunga Bunga parties, which sparked a scandal that helped oust him as prime minister in 2011, marking the end of his fourth government.

The defense said Apicella had received monthly contributions from Berlusconi since 2002 as fees or donations unrelated to the charges brought before the court.

The Rome trial is one of three interrelated cases that were tried in different cities for reasons of territorial jurisdiction.

In a separate case pending in a Milan court, Berlusconi is accused of bribing 24 witnesses, most of them young people invited to his parties. In May, the prosecutor’s office requested that he be sentenced to six years in prison. Berlusconi denies the charges and is not expected to be sentenced until January 2023.

Last year, a Siena court acquitted Berlusconi on charges of bribing another witness. Prosecutors have appealed the decision, but a new trial date has not been set.