Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been indicted to stand trial on charges of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute and the abuse of power when, in an unrelated case, he called the police to seek her release from custody.
How strange when Berlusconi denies paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug when she was 17 and Ms El Mahroug denies sleeping with the prime minister. She does, however, admit to having received a 7,000 euro from him as a gift after one of his parties.
Berlusconi is no stranger to courtrooms, claiming to have spent 200 million euros in legal fees over the past twenty years, with more than 2,500 court appearances in 106 trials. He has labelled himself as the ‘most persecuted man in history’, There are currently several court cases pending against the Prime Minister, although this is the first case to involve his private conduct.
Sunday saw hundreds of thousands of Italian women holding protests against the prime minister in more than 60 towns and cities in both Italy and other countries.
Ironically, Mr Berlusconi’s fast-track trial will be in front of three female judges and is due to start at a court in Milan at 09:30 on Wednesday April 6th