Post date: Feb 16, 2011 1:23:31 PM
Italians are awaiting the next stage in the saga after a judge ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office.
ROME, ITALY (FILE - JANUARY 18, 2011) REUTERS - Italian newspapers had a field day on Wednesday (February 16), following a weekend when over a million women took to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his style of politics.
Headlines spelling doom for Berlusconi dominated the newspapers on the day after a judge ordered him to stand immediate trial on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office.Milan's chief judge Christina Di Censo on Tuesday (February 15) ordered Berlusconi to face prosecutors' accusations at a trial set to start in a criminal court in Milan on April 6.
The prime minister is not obliged to appear in person before the panel of three female judges on that day, nor is there any legal obstacle to his continuing to hold office throughout any trial proceedings, which could take years before any conviction.
Political analyst James Walston said Italy was ready for political change.
"Italy has a tendency to go through some sort of revolution, sometimes bloody and full of war and sometimes much less so, every 20 years or so and we are ready for one now. There will be an attempt to start again, which may or may not happen this time," he said.
Morning commuters in Rome said it was time to begin repairing the reputation and moral standards of the country.
"I think he should resign because it is a manner of behaving that has just fallen too low, a prime minister should not do certain things," Gianni Passeri said of Berlusconi.
"I think we just don't have any respect anymore internationally, really we just don't look good and he should think about that," Franco Marri said.
Many of the recent protests have focused on demanding the resignation of Berlusconi.
"There is no other choice, he has to go," Marina Lucide said.
Berlusconi has denied all charges against him and there seems no immediate risk the scandal will force him to resign.
Italian media have been dominated for weeks by the alleged prostitution affair, which turns on the case of a teenaged Moroccan night-club dancer named Karima el Mahroug, whose stage name 'Ruby' has become a household term in Italy.
Prosecutors say they have ample evidence that Berlusconi paid el Mahroug for sex when she was under 18 -- an offence in Italy -- and also telephoned a police station to pressure officers to release her after she was held on theft allegations.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 3 years for underage prostitution and 12 years for abuse of office.
El Mahroug denies having sex with Berlusconi but admits receiving at least 7,000 euros (9,500 U.S. dollars) after attending a party at the premier's luxurious private residence at Arcore near Milan.
Berlusconi has denied doing anything illegal in the case and says he has been targeted by politically motivated judges backed by the left who are determined to bring him down.
He says he has never paid for sex and says that when he telephoned the Milan police station it was because he believed el Mahroug to be the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and he wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.
The constitutional court last month removed the automatic immunity from trial that Berlusconi had previously enjoyed.
The prime minister is also due to face trial in three unrelated embezzlement and fraud trials in the coming weeks.
His lawyers argue the latest case should be heard by a special tribunal for ministers. They have 30 days to appeal the decision to skip a preliminary hearing and go straight to trial.