Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, wants his trial on corruption charges to go ahead despite the passing of a law in the Italian Senate that would suspend the case, Niccolo Ghedini, his lawyer, said on Tuesday.

The billionaire has faced a storm of criticism after his supporters introduced an amendment last week that would suspend for one year trails involving crimes committed before mid-2002 carrying a penalty of less than 10 years in prison.