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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/15/3139762.htm



Berlusconi to stand trial on sex charge

By Europe correspondent Emma Alberici, staff

Updated 10 hours 36 minutes ago


Prosecutors claim Mr Berlusconi had sex with Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, who also goes by the name of 'Ruby the Heart-Stealer'. (AFP)


Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial in April over allegations he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and abused his power by trying to get her cleared of theft, a judge ruled.

Berlusconi has known scandals in his time - he is involved in three other trials on charges of corruption and bribery - but this one is without doubt the most serious allegation of his career.

Prosecutors claim he had sex with Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, who was 17 at the time.

Both the prime minister and the girl, who also goes by the name of 'Ruby the Heart-Stealer', deny they had sex.

But Berlusconi does admit he gave her $9,500 in cash, which he insists was not a payment for prostitution but a gift for a friend in need. He has also admitted giving her a car and a diamond necklace.

Granting a request by Milan magistrates, judge Cristina Di Censo said the first hearing would take place on April 6, in a move that brings a long-running probe into the premier's private life to a head.

After reviewing more than 600 pages of evidence, a pre-trial hearing to establish the strength of the case was not deemed necessary.

Following the announcement, the prime minister's camp reiterated its claims that Berlusconi was the victim of a witch-hunt by his political opponents.

"We didn't expect anything else," his lawyers said.

"There are neither crimes nor victims, just an immediate trial... a media trial that has been going on for weeks," Daniele Capezzone, spokesman for Berlusconi's ruling Democratic Party, said in a statement.

"It is clear that the left-wing, beaten in the elections and in parliament, is trying to use justice [against Berlusconi]. They won't succeed," he added.

Berlusconi, whose bedroom antics sparked a nationwide protest by Italian women at the weekend, will be tried by three female judges.

He could face three years in prison if found guilty of paying minors for sex, and from six to 12 years for abuse of power.

In the trial, the prime minister will have to answer allegations he paid for sex with Ruby, who was 17 at the time, and improperly used his power to call police and request that she be released from custody after she was arrested for theft.

The billionaire PM says his aides had mistakenly told him Ruby was the granddaughter of then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

He says his personal intervention in the case was simply one leader trying to save another from embarrassment.

Using the services of prostitutes is not a crime in Italy, but paying for sex with a girl under the age of 18 is illegal and carries a prison term.

Most of the witnesses have already been the subject of phone taps, most of them women who attended Mr Berlusconi's so-called 'bunga bunga' sex parties.

The accusations come as part of a probe into the premier's private life which have sent Italian media into a frenzy, splashing rumours of orgies with prostitutes and would-be show girls over the front pages.

It is not the first time the premier has been mired in a sex scandal. In May 2009, he was accused of having a relationship with another 17-year old, Noemi Letizia, who called him "papi", provoking his wife to file for divorce.

A month later, escort Patrizia D'Addario released audio recordings of her torrid nights with the prime minister and photos of his residence.

Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, has said he will appeal and request to send the motion to a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, where Berlusconi's centre-right ruling party has the majority.

The prime minister has previously refused to obey summons for questioning, claiming the magistrates based in Milan were not qualified to handle the case.

But since a top court partially stripped him of political immunity in January, the Italian leader will have to justify not appearing in court.

The Ruby case brings the number of trials currently involving Berlusconi to three.

It will be a tough few months for the prime minister, who also faces old charges including tax fraud and witness corruption in trials that will resume in February and March.

A senator for Mr Berlusconi's party, Lucio Malan, says he is confident the prime minister will be cleared.

"The fact that he had sex with this girl has been denied has been denied by him, and by the girl, it's hard to prove something that both parties deny," he said. "The result will be to make public some interesting moments, but embarrassment is not being guilty."

The judge's decision to take the on the 74-year-old prime minister comes just days after mass protests in Italy saw up to 1 million people take to the streets calling for Berlusconi's resignation.

They were voicing anger about what they see as the prime minister's increasing disrespect for women in a country where, according to the World Economic Forum, gender inequality is worse than in Kazakhstan.

- ABC/AFP
 

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