The Court of Milan (north) on Wednesday acquitted former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the case that he was trying to clarify whether he bribed witnesses, especially women, so that they would not reveal what happened at controversial private parties in 2010.
The 86-year-old magnate was charged with a crime of corruption for allegedly having paid for the silence of the participants in their parties, 28 of whom were charged in this process for perjury and were also acquitted.
The judge considered that “the fact does not subsist”, that is to say, that the accusation against Berlusconi and about twenty women who attended those parties, among them the Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, alias Ruby, origin of the scandal, was not proven.
“Ruby was an invention and my name is still Karima. Today a nightmare ended. I need time to assimilate it, but I’m happy that part of the truth has finally come out,” the woman told the press after hearing the verdict.
Last May, the Milanese Prosecutor’s Office demanded six years in prison and the seizure of 10.8 million euros from the conservative leader.
(You can read: Berlusconi promises “bus of prostitutes” to the team if they beat Juve or Milan)
File photo dated June 5, 2014 showing former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The controversial parties
This process is known as “Ruby Ter”, alluding to Karima “Ruby Rubacuore” (heartthrob), as the press nicknamed the girl with whom the politician had sexual relations when she was a minor at his controversial parties.
Of those “elegant dinners”, as Berlusconi called them, a trial arose for the crimes of abuse of power and incitement to the prostitution of minors in which he was sentenced to 7 years and disqualified, but was finally acquitted in 2015 by the Supreme Court.
However, this process originated other parallel trials. The “Ruby Bis” led to the conviction of three collaborators for pimping: the former director of Informativos Emilio Defe, the representative of artists Lele Mora and the politician and actress Nicole Minetti.
(Furthermore: Italian mob boss was on the run for 16 years posing as a pizza guy)
He had no doubts about his innocence. The Forza Italia community celebrates its leader
The process was baptized as the “Ruby Ter” process and sought to clarify whether Berlusconi paid his party-goers when he was prime minister, especially young women, to give false testimony, perjury, in the aforementioned trials.
The main case, except for appeals from the Prosecutor’s Office, is being investigated in Milan, but the case had to be broken down due to a matter of jurisdiction in different branches in Turin, Pescara, Treviso, Monza and Siena, resulting in a trickle of sentences.
The Milan Prosecutor’s Office He maintained in this process that the then prime minister paid thousands of euros a month to many of the women who attended his parties at his mansion in Arcore (north). and in his then Roman residence, Grazioni Palace, right in the center.
![](https://www.eltiempo.com/images/1x1.png)
In the trial, in addition to Berlusconi, 28 other defendants were acquitted, among them “Ruby”, the senator Maria Rosaria Rossi, the journalist Carlo Rosella and the former partner of the young Moroccan Luca Risso.
Berlusconi is no longer on the political front line, especially due to his age and health problems, although he managed to return to the Senate and his party, Forza Italia, is part of the right-wing coalition that currently governs Italy, chaired by Giorgia Meloni.
The right hand of the conservative politician, Antonio Tajani, current vice president and foreign minister, celebrated this “extremely good news.”
(You can read: Lover of the Italian capo Matteo Messina says he did not know who he really was)
“I had no doubts about his innocence. The Forza Italia community celebrates their leader,” he said on Twitter.
Another of his partners, the leader of the far-right League, Matteo Salvini, immediately expressed his “happiness” over Berlusconi’s acquittal “after years of suffering, insults and useless controversy.”
EFE
#Prime #Minister #Silvio #Berlusconi #acquitted #trial #bribery #witnesses