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Berlusconi 'witness tampering' inquiry in Ruby trial | Berlusconi 'witness tampering' inquiry in Ruby trial |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to be investigated for alleged witness-tampering in an underage prostitution trial. | Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to be investigated for alleged witness-tampering in an underage prostitution trial. |
He and his lawyers are accused of meeting the female witnesses to discuss the evidence they would give. | He and his lawyers are accused of meeting the female witnesses to discuss the evidence they would give. |
Berlusconi was convicted last year of paying for sex with an underage prostitute Karima El Mahroug, also known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer". | Berlusconi was convicted last year of paying for sex with an underage prostitute Karima El Mahroug, also known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer". |
It is the latest in a string of legal cases hanging over Berlusconi. | |
Forty-five people are under investigation in this latest case, according to Milan judicial officials, including Ms El Mahroug and senior members of Berlusconi's legal team, Niccolo Ghedini and Piero Longo. | |
Also being investigated are other young women who attended so-called "bunga bunga" erotic parties at Berlusconi's villa near Milan. | |
He is alleged to have paid monthly sums to them to testify that the gatherings were innocent dinners rather than erotic parties. | |
'Innocent' | |
Berlusconi, in a statement released on Thursday, again asserted his innocence and accused the judiciary of victimising him. | |
He remained "more convinced than ever of the need to keep fighting to the end for what I profoundly believe in". | |
The former prime minister was sentenced to seven years in custody last July for paying for sex with a prostitute aged under 18 and abuse of office. The court found he had used his influence to release Ms El Mahroug from police custody. | |
He remains free while appealing against the verdict. | |
A former nightclub dancer, Ms El Mahroug has always denied having sexual relations with Berlusconi. | |
The leader of Italy's centre-right Forza Italia party suffered another setback last year when he was expelled from the Senate after a conviction for tax fraud was upheld. He also lost his immunity from prosecution. | |
Though he was given a four-year jail term, reduced to one, he is not expected to go to prison because of his age - 77. But he may have to do a year's community service. | |
Berlusconi has said he fears he will end up "cleaning loos". | |
But at this moment things are not so bad for him, reports the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome. He's relaxing at a health farm on Lake Garda, along with his young fiancee and their pet dog. | |
At the weekend, Berlusconi appeared to have returned to the political mainstream, sealing a deal with his centre-left rivals in the governing Democratic Party (PD). Under the agreement, Forza Italia, the largest opposition bloc, will back electoral and constitutional changes. |