Teenage nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug. Photo: ReutersTeenage nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug. Photo: Reuters

An Italian court yesterday sentenced three associates of Silvio Berlusconi to jail terms after finding them guilty of aiding and abetting prostitution by procuring girls for paid sex with the former prime minister.

The court sentenced show business agent Lele Mora and Emilio Fede, a former newscaster on one of Berlusconi’s television stations, to seven years in jail each for helping recruit young women, including the former teenaged nightclub dancer known as “Ruby the Heartstealer” who is at the centre of the case.

Nicole Minetti, a former dental hygienist who later became regional councillor for Berlusconi’s PDL party, was sentenced to five years in jail. All three have denied any wrongdoing.

Berlusconi himself was handed a seven-year jail sentence last month for paying for sex with the minor Karima El Mahroug, adding to complications facing Italy’s fragile left-right government.

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