Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

, then the

Prime Minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

, was accused and initially formally convicted of paying 17-year-old Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, also known by the stage name Ruby Rubacuori (Italian for "Ruby the Heartstealer"), for sexual services between February and May 2010 when she was under the age of 18; he was found not guilty on appeal. He was found not guilty on appeal also, formerly convicted of

malfeasance in office Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a just cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Malfeasance in office contrasts with "misfeasance in office", which is the commission of a ''lawful'' act, done in an officia ...

( it, concussione) by arranging to have El Mahroug released from police detention during an incident in which she was briefly held on claims of theft. On 24 June 2013, the Court of First Instance sentenced Berlusconi to seven years in prison, and banned him from public office for life. Berlusconi appealed the sentence, and on 18 July 2014, an appeals court overturned Berlusconi's conviction, thus making him once again eligible to hold elected office.

Theft arrest of El Mahroug

On 27 May 2010, El Mahroug was arrested by the police in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

after being accused of the theft of €3000. Since she was not carrying any legal or identification documents, the officers took her to the local police headquarters to identify her and for questioning. Since she was a minor under eighteen, a judge ordered the police to direct her to a shelter for juvenile offenders. After a couple of hours, while she was being questioned, Berlusconi, who was at the time in Paris, called the head of the police in Milan and pressured for her release, claiming the girl was the niece of then-

Egyptian President The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyp ...

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

and that in order to avoid a diplomatic crisis, she was to be brought to the custody of Nicole Minetti. Following repeated telephone calls by Berlusconi to the police authorities, El Mahroug was eventually released and entrusted to Minetti's care. Minetti was known for previous associations with Berlusconi, having danced for ''Colorado Cafe'', a show on one of Berlusconi's TV channels, and on ''Scorie'', an Italian version of ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

''. In November 2009 she became a dental hygienist, and shortly afterward treated Berlusconi for two broken teeth and facial injuries after he was attacked with a marble statue at a political rally. In February 2010, she was selected as one of the candidates representing Berlusconi's

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

party, despite her lack of any political experience, and was seated on the

Regional Council of Lombardy The Regional Council of Lombardy ( it, Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia) is the parliament, legislative assembly of Lombardy, Italy. It was first elected in 1970, when the Regions of Italy, ordinary regions were instituted, on the basis of th ...

the following month. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported that according to a series of media reports in October 2010, Berlusconi had met El Mahroug, then 17, through Nicole Minetti. Mahroug insisted that she had not slept with the then-74-year-old prime minister. She told Italian newspapers that she merely attended dinner at his mansion near Milan. El Mahroug said she sat next to Berlusconi, who later took her upstairs and gave her an envelope containing €7000. She said he also gave her jewelry.

Investigation

In January 2011, Berlusconi was placed under criminal investigation relating to El Mahroug for allegedly having sex with an underage person and for abuse of office relating to her release from detention. Berlusconi's lawyers were quick to deny the allegations as "absurd and without foundation" and called the investigation a "serious interference with the private life of the prime minister without precedent in the judicial history of the country". ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' reported on 6 March 2011 that prosecutors were days from requesting charges against

Emilio Fede Emilio Fede (born 24 June 1931) is an Italian anchorman, journalist and writer. He has been the director of ''TG1'' (from 1981 to 1982), a news programme on Raiuno, '' Studio Aperto'' (from 1991 to 1992), a news programme on Italia 1, and ''TG4'' ...

, a television anchorman, and Lele Mora, a well-known celebrity agent, for procuring underage girls in a "vast pimping network" to attend "

bunga bunga Bunga bunga is a phrase of uncertain origin and various meanings that dates from 1910, and a name for an area of Australia dating from 1852. By 2010 the phrase had gained popularity in Italy and the international press to refer to then-Italian Pri ...

" sex parties with the prime minister. According to the prosecutors' dossier, Fede 'discovered' El Mahroug when acting as a judge at a beauty pageant in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in September 2009, and passed her on to Mora's office in central

, which served as a "form of 'clearing centre' for women eager to enter the prime minister's circle in pursuit of money, gifts and help with their show business careers". While the investigators claim to have evidence from lawful

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

of mobile phone conversations, Berlusconi denied the allegations through his lawyers, who called the investigation absurd and without foundation. Vote by parliamentarian majority took place on 5 April 2011, in order to assert ministeriality, but it was reversed later by the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

Trial of Berlusconi

On 15 February 2011, a judge indicted Berlusconi to stand trial on charges carrying up to 15 years in prison. Paying for sex with a minor in Italy is punished within a range of six months to three years' imprisonment, while the crime of

( it, concussione) is more severely punished, from four years to twelve years' imprisonment, as it is considered a type of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

committed by a public officer. The fast-track trial opened on 6 April 2011 and was adjourned until 31 May 2011. El Mahroug's lawyer said that Mahroug would not be attaching herself to the case as a civil complainant and denies that she ever made herself available for money. Another alleged victim, Giorgia Iafrate, also decided not to be a party to the case. In January 2013, judges rejected an application from Berlusconi's lawyers to have the trial adjourned so that it would not interfere with Italy's 2013 general election in which Berlusconi participated.

Verdict and aftermath

On 24 June 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying for sex with the underaged El Mahroug and of abusing his office. He was sentenced by the Court of First Instance to seven years in prison, one more year than had been requested by the prosecution, and banned from public office for life. In January 2014, Berlusconi deposited an appeal against the judgment, requesting its complete absolution. The appeal process began on 20 June. On 18 July 2014, the Italian appeals court announced the appeal had been successful and the convictions against Berlusconi were being overturned. According to the court's published summary of the judgement, Berlusconi was acquitted from the extortion charges (abuse of power) because "the fact does not exist" and from the child prostitution charge because "the fact is not a crime". The more detailed court reasoning for acquittal will be published within 90 days, and the prosecutor stated he would then most likely appeal the decision to the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

. In March 2015, Berlusconi's acquittal was upheld by high court. On 28 January 2017, an Italian court ordered Berlusconi to stand trial on 4 April 2017 on charges of allegedly bribing witnesses with

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

10 million (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

11 million) in order to silence them over accusations he paid for sex with young women.

Notes

References