A Milan court was considering Silvio Berlusconi's fate in his
sex-for-hire trial Monday, with the former Italian premier risking an
end to his two-decade political career and a prison term if found
guilty.
Berlusconi, 76, is charged with paying an underage Moroccan teen for
sex and then trying to cover it up with phone calls to Milan police
officials when she was picked up for alleged theft. Berlusconi and the
woman deny having had sex with each other.
Prosecutors are seeking a six-year jail term and a lifetime ban from
politics for Berlusconi. Even if he is convicted, there are two more
levels of appeal before the sentence would become final. The process
can take months.
Berlusconi holds no official post in the current Italian government,
but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that
emerged after inconclusive February elections.
The charges against the billionaire media mogul stem from his infamous
"bunga bunga" parties in 2010 at his mansion near Milan, where he
wined and dined beautiful young women while he was premier. He says
the dinner parties were elegant soirees; prosecutors say they were
sex-fueled parties that women were paid to attend.
Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the case, Karima
el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname Ruby, have testified in this
trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show on a
couple of occasions, delaying the trial. Berlusconi's team eventually
dropped her from the witness list.
El-Mahroug did testify in the separate trial of three Berlusconi aides
charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties. She told that
court that Berlusconi's disco featured aspiring showgirls dressed as
sexy nuns and nurses performing striptease acts, and that one woman
even dressed up as President Barack Obama.
Berlusconi was not in court on Monday as the three female judges began
deliberating his fate at 9:45 a.m. Outside the courthouse a few people
held signs supporting prosecutors, including one reading: "Justice,
Legality and Dignity." A pair of Berlusconi supporters was also there.
Asked if Berlusconi was optimistic, defense attorney Piero Longo said
outside the courthouse that he was a "realist." Longo turned sarcastic
when asked if the Milan courts were biased against his client: "No,
Berlusconi has always been treated with great kindness and care in
Milan. Having a trial in Milan for Berlusconi is a privilege."
Berlusconi frequently has railed against Milan prosecutors and judges,
accusing them of mounting politically motivated cases against him.
El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the other trial that she attended about a
half-dozen parties at Berlusconi's villa, and that after each,
Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros ($3,900). She
said she later received 30,000 euros cash from the then-premier paid
through an intermediary — money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to
use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal training.
She was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters but passed herself
off as being 24. She also claimed she was related to then-Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi's lawyers argued that he —
thinking el-Mahroug was indeed Mubarak's niece — called police after
she was detained in a bid to avoid a diplomatic incident.
El-Mahroug denied that Berlusconi had ever given her 5 million euros
($6.43 million). She said she told acquaintances and even her father
that she was going to receive such a large sum "as a boast," but that
it was a lie to make her seem more important.
The verdict garnered intense international media attention with half a
dozen TV satellite trucks taking positions outside the courthouse. The
verdict comes on the heels of Berlusconi's tax-fraud conviction, which
along with a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban on public
office, have been upheld on a first appeal.
The tax-fraud case is heading to Italy's highest court for a final
appeal after Berlusconi's defense failed to derail it last week at the
constitutional court.
Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times relating to his business
dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the trial level. But
those convictions have always either been overturned on appeal or the
statute of limitations ran out before Italy's high court could have
its say.
The sex-for-hire case is the first involving his personal conduct.
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