Say it ain’t so, Silvio.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will be tried on charges that he paid for sex with an underage nightclub dancer and then tried to cover it up, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The trial will begin April 6, said Italian Judge Cristina Di Censo.
Berlusconi, who has a history of dating younger women, has vehemently denied wrongdoing, calling the charges “disgusting” and “groundless.”
The 74-year-old politician playboy politician is suspected of trying to hide evidence of trysts he allegedly had with Moroccan exotic dancer Ruby Rubacuori, nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer, sometime between February and May last year. She was alledgedly 17 at the time.
Prosecutors allege Berlusconi then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for an unrelated suspected theft of about $4,000, fearing his relationship with the dancer would be exposed.
At the time, Berlusconi said he was simply trying to help someone in need.
Thousands of Italians flooded the streets in 200 cities across the country Sunday to protest Berlusconi’s alleged tawdry behavior toward women, holding signs that saying, “I am not for sale” and “Enough!”
People march against Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi during a protest in Rome on Sunday. Thousands of women turned out in 200 Italian cities to denounce what they say is Berlusconi’s debasing of females. (Cito/AP)
Berlusconi, who is open with his fondness for women but denies doing anything illegal, dismissed the demonstration.
“Every woman that has had the opportunity to know me knows my regard for them: I have always behaved with the greatest attention and respect towards them,” he said, according to London‘s Telegraph. I have always made it so that every woman feels, how should I say, special.”
Last November, Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, told Italy‘s La Repubblica newspaper that she only paid one visit to the billionaire prime minister in February 2010, alongside nine other women. She claimed that Berlusconi showered her with gifts, including a diamond necklace, an Audi R8 sports car and $9,700 in cash.
Women who Berlusconi has been linked to. From Left, clockwise: Italian soap opera star Camilla Ferranti, twins Eleonora and Imma De Vivo, Venezuelan showgirl Aida Yespica, and underwear model Noemi Letitzia. (Villa, Brengola/Getty; Pace, Castano/AP)
She insisted there “was no sex” and that Berlusconi promised Ruby, an illegal immigrant, that he’d help her get a green card.
“When I said I was 17, he said that in the past he’d had problems with minors. He said he didn’t want it to happen again,” she told the newspaper. “Then we said goodbye, he was polite but firm. I was upset, as he was the first man in my life who had not wanted to take me to bed. He was like a father, I swear.”
With News Wire Services
