Rome: Silvio Berlusconi made an embarrassing gaffe on Friday when he said he had spent millions of euros on "judges".
The Italian prime minister was making an impassioned plea, claiming he was the most persecuted man in history.
He quickly corrected his mistake, explaining that he had spent 200 million euros (Dh1,083 million) on "consultants and lawyers" dealing with the investigations in which he was involved.
But the slip has added poignancy, coming days after Berlusconi's holding company, Fininvest, was ordered to pay almost £700 million (Dh4.3 billion) to a rival firm after being found guilty of bribing a judge.
His latest outburst follows his defeat this week in the country's highest court, which overturned a law that protected him from prosecution while he was in office.
Berlusconi says he is being persecuted and he should be above the law for now as the investigations leave him no time to govern.
The defeat has paved the way for several cases against him to be reopened, including accusations that he bribed David Mills, his British former tax accountant, in exchange for lying in court.
"I am without a doubt the person who has been most persecuted by judges in the entire history of the world and the history of man," he told journalists in Rome.
He said he had made more than 2,500 court appearances and spent more than 200 million euros in the legal cases that have dogged him since he entered politics 15 years ago.
Berlusconi still has high popularity ratings but his position has weakened in the past few months following a string of sex scandals.
A stinging personal attack on the country's head of state this week could further damage his credibility. Berlusconi accused Giorgio Napolitano, the Italian president, of being a Communist stooge. He was told by Gianfranco Fini, a powerful ally and a potential rival for power, that he must "respect the head of state".
