PM "Playboy" Itali Dibicara Atas Dakwaan Seks

Milan - Seorang hakim Itali semalam memerintahkan Perdana Menteri, Silvio Berlusconi dibicarakan atas tuduhan membayar sejumlah wang kepada seorang gadis bawah umur dari Maghribi untuk mendapatkan khidmat seksnya dan cuba menutup perbuatan itu.

Hakim Cristina Di Censo membuat keputusan tersebut semalam dan menetapkan kes Berlusconi dibicarakan pada 6 April depan.

Kes beliau akan didengar oleh satu panel yang disertai oleh tiga juri wanita.

Berlusconi didakwa membayar gadis tersebut yang dikenali sebagai Ruby yang ketika itu berusia 17 tahun untuk melakukan hubungan seks dengannya.

Beliau juga didakwa menyalahgunakan pengaruhnya untuk membebaskan Ruby yang nama sebenarnya Karima El Mahroug daripada tahanan polis.

Ruby ditahan polis kerana disyaki mencuri wang berjumlah AS$4,103 (RM12,522) tetapi Berlusconi campur tangan bagi meminta polis membebaskannya.

Perdana Menteri itu dipercayai berusaha untuk membebaskan gadis tersebut kerana bimbang rahsianya akan bocor.

Undang-undang Itali membenarkan pelacur dilanggan tetapi mengharamkan hubungan seks dengan remaja berusia di bawah 18 tahun.

Bagi kesalahan pertama, beliau berdepan hukuman penjara antara enam bulan hingga tiga tahun manakala hukuman salah guna kuasa adalah lebih serius iaitu penjara maksimum 12 tahun.

Berlusconi, bagaiamanapun, menafikan semua tuduhan ke atas dirinya itu.

Perdana menteri berkenaan memberitahu, arahan pembebasan Ruby dilakukan bagi mengelak ketegangan diplomatik kerana beliau percaya gadis itu ialah cucu Presiden Mesir ketika itu, Hosni Mubarak.

Hosni telah meletakkan jawatan pada Jumaat lalu.

Berlusconi turut mendakwa tindakan pihak pendakwa raya mengheretnya ke mahkamah adalah bermotifkan politik dengan tujuan untuk menggulingkannya.

Berlusconi, 74, pernah dibicarakan kerana beberapa kes berkaitan perniagaan tetapi ini adalah kali pertama beliau dihadapkan ke mahkamah kerana tingkah lakunya.

Berlusconi didakwa susulan pihak pendakwa raya memberitahu, mereka memiliki bukti kukuh untuk mensabitkannya dalam kes tersebut. - AP

Playboy PM Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial accused of bedding underage prostitute

by Melissa Thompson, Daily Mirror 16/02/2011



PLAYBOY Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was yesterday ordered to stand trial on charges he had sex with an underage prostitute.

A judge accepted the prosecutors’ request for a fast-track hearing on claims the Italian leader paid to bed nightclub dancer Karima El Mahrough, who was 17 at the time, and then covered it up.

The 74-year-old billionaire will also face a charge of abuse of power for apparently pressuring police to drop theft claims against her.

Berlusconi denies the accusations, which follow countless reports about his alleged “bunga bunga” sex parties. The accelerated trial, which will begin on April 16, misses out the preliminary hearing stage as there is said to be overwhelming evidence.

Yesterday Berlusconi’s lawyer Piero Longo shrugged off the move, saying: “We did not expect anything different.” Several women claim that they had sex with the Italian PM at private events at his luxury villa near Milan.


Noemi Letizia

The bunga bunga bashes take their name from the sex parties held by Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.

Berlusconi and Moroccan El Mahrough, now 18, denied they ever had sex although she admits he gave her £5,900 on Valentine’s Day last year. Later, when she was held on suspicion of theft, the PM is said to have called the police and requested her release.

Berlusconi is also said to have had a relationship with Noemi Letizia and gave a diamond necklace when she turned 18. It prompted his second wife Veronica Lario to divorce him in 2009.

Paying for sex is not illegal in Italy, but it is if the prostitute is under 18.


Karima Keyek

The speedy trial comes after protests in 200 cities last Sunday in which hundreds of thousands of Italians condemned Berlusconi. The PM said the claims are a left-wing conspiracy.

He is also facing another trial on fraud charges. -dailymirror