Post date: May 13, 2013 5:48:34 PM
An Italian prosecutor is seeking a six-year jail sentence for former Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi for allegedly having sex with an underage nightclub dancer during notorious 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa outside Milan.
MILAN, ITALY (MAY 13, 2013) (REUTERS) - Italian prosecutors on Monday (May 13) requested a six-year jail sentence and a lifetime ban on holding public office against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor.
The 76-year-old billionaire media tycoon and centre-right political leader is accused of paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name 'Ruby the Heartstealer', when she was under the age of 18, during the now notorious "bunga bunga" parties at his villa at Arcore near Milan in 2010.However the prosecutors considered by far the more serious charge was that he abused the powers of his office during a separate incident by arranging for her to be released from police custody where she was being held on theft charges.
They requested five years imprisonment for the abuse of office and one year for paying for sex. The verdict is expected on June 24.
In her closing arguments that lasted over six hours, Milan chief prosecutor Ilda Boccassini said there had been a "system of organised prostitution aimed at the satisfaction of the sexual pleasure of Silvio Berlusconi" and that there was "no doubt that Ruby had sex with the defendant, from whom she received benefits".
Berlusconi has vigourously denied the accusations. El Mahroug, who staged a dramatic protest outside the Milan court last month, has always denied being a prostitute or having had sex with Berlusconi.
"Their request is very high for these kind of charges, it is very, very, high and absolutely disproportional. But we are in Milan and you can expect anything her," Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told reporters outside the court house, where a small group of pro-and anti-Berlusconi demonstrators gathered to voice their views on the case.
The sentencing request by the Milan prosecutors adds to a mass of legal problems facing Berlusconi, who last week lost an appeal against a four year sentence for tax fraud in connection with his Mediaset broadcasting empire.
No final verdict will be enforced until the appeals process is exhausted at the court of cassation but Berlusconi's longstanding war with magistrates has created growing tension within the coalition government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
Berlusconi mounted a fierce attack on prosecutors over the weekend at a stormy rally in the northern city of Brescia that was attended by centre-right members of the government including Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
Letta's own centre-left Democratic Party (PD) sharply criticised Alfano's presence at the rally, which it took as an endorsement of Berlusconi's comments and the prime minister warned his coalition partners that there could be no repeat if the government was to survive.