Ex-PM Berlusconi accused of bribing witness in underage sex case

 

FILE PHOTO: Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi gestures during EPP European People's Party meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, September 17, 2017. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

 

TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - A prosecutor asked a court in the northern city of Turin on Friday to charge four-times prime minister Silvio Berlusconi with bribing a witness when he was being tried for paying for sex with a minor.

 

The case is one of seven that form part of the same issue being handled by as many different courts.

 

In the cases, prosecutors allege Berlusconi doled out 10 million euros ($12 million) to corrupt several witnesses at his trial in 2013, in which he was accused of having sex with 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, better known in Italy by her stage name, Ruby the Heartstealer.

 

Prosecutors in Turin said Berlusconi had paid a former nurse and model, Roberta Bonasia, to give false testimony in the trial.

 

Bonasia is one of more than a dozen women who testified about Berlusconi's so-called "Bunga Bunga" sex parties at his plush residence near Milan, which Berlusconi says were nothing more than elegant dinner parties.

 

The alleged payments to various witnesses are being handled in different courts, according to the location of the banks that received the money.

 

El Mahroug received 7 million euros, prosecutors say.

 

Berlusconi was originally found guilty of paying to have sex with a minor and sentenced to seven years in jail, but the verdict was overturned in 2014 by an appeals court, which ruled that there was no proof he had known Mahroug's age.

 

In this case, both Berlusconi and Bonasia, whom prosecutors also want to put on trial, deny any wrongdoing. Their lawyers were not immediately reachable for comment.

 

The 81-year-old Berlusconi is staging a political comeback ahead of a national election due early next year. His Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party is part of a centre-right coalition that is currently leading opinion polls.

 

Berlusconi's political career has been dogged by non-stop legal battles. After a conviction for tax fraud in 2013, he was barred from office, but this week he asked the European Court of Human Rights this week to overturn the ban.

 

($1 = 0.8405 euros)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-25

I think it is two other fingers that Berlusconi was giving to everyone.   

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  If so then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

1 minute ago, phantomfiddler said:

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  If so then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

The charge in question would be bribery not having sex with a minor. So what's your point?

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  If so then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

 

Regardless; the adult is expected to check these things.

Plus the charge now is bribery.

 

Berlusconi does the best Thunderbirds puppet impersonation eh!

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  Iof s then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

"...then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots".

Why?  In which world does half the male population shag underage pole dancers?

The age of consent in Italy is 13......if the partner is under 18....and consent is 14 for all other ages. Like Thailand it has a rider in the law, Italy --pay for sex and she has to be 18....dont pay for it...14....

The age of consent in Italy is 14 years, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 13 and older to engage in sexual activity with partners who are under the age of 18,---Wikipedia

5 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

The age of consent in Italy is 13......if the partner is under 18....and consent is 14 for all other ages. Like Thailand it has a rider in the law, Italy --pay for sex and she has to be 18....dont pay for it...14....

The age of consent in Italy is 14 years, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 13 and older to engage in sexual activity with partners who are under the age of 18,---Wikipedia

 

That's interesting information but since the charge being considered is bribery, not really relevant to the case at hand.

26 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

not really relevant to the case at hand

 

Yes your right......please accept my humble apologies..........

 

*

Edited November 25, 20178 yr by sanuk711

I did review it and change before you posted ILMP.....and agin sorry about wandering.

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

"...then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots".

Why?  In which world does half the male population shag underage pole dancers?

..Pole-land of course.

Berlusconi is similar personality as Putin and Trump are. 

 

 

 

Ruby The Heartstealer was a hottie!

IMHO...

2 hours ago, oilinki said:

Berlusconi is similar personality as Putin and Trump are. 

 

 

 

And Erdogan and Duterte and all those other hard-ass wannebe (or actual) dictators

13 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

That's interesting information but since the charge being considered is bribery, not really relevant to the case at hand.

Yes it has 100%,,He's Guilty for having sex with an under age girl, than he tried to bribe himself out of an Conviction,,  

12 hours ago, digger70 said:

Yes it has 100%,,He's Guilty for having sex with an under age girl, than he tried to bribe himself out of an Conviction,,  

I'm not sure what you're getting at. He's charged with attempting to bribe a witness, not with bribing himself. Maybe you were attempting to make a joke that doesn't quite work?

14 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at. He's charged with attempting to bribe a witness, not with bribing himself. Maybe you were attempting to make a joke that doesn't quite work?

He was attempting to bribe a witness to avoid a conviction for having sex with an under age girl He is guilty for that .He's Also charged for having sex with an under age girl .It's very simple ,same case . I didn't say that he was bribing himself,,I said,he tried to bribe himself out of an Conviction, meaning that he was bribing someone to try to avoid a conviction.Ok  maybe I should have worded that way. 

10 minutes ago, digger70 said:

He was attempting to bribe a witness to avoid a conviction for having sex with an under age girl He is guilty for that .He's Also charged for having sex with an under age girl .It's very simple ,same case . I didn't say that he was bribing himself,,I said,he tried to bribe himself out of an Conviction, meaning that he was bribing someone to try to avoid a conviction.Ok  maybe I should have worded that way. 

My imperfect command of English has failed me again. Sorry.

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

My imperfect command of English has failed me again. Sorry.

Ok, I'll try again, English is not my first language either ,,,,,,

He was trying to bribe a witness so that he would not be found guilty and be convicted for his crime,  the crime being ,having sex with an under age girl same case.

On 11/25/2017 at 11:33 AM, phantomfiddler said:

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  If so then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

If they are older men sleeping with 17 year old girls, I hope they are.

On 25/11/2017 at 3:33 PM, phantomfiddler said:

Surely a 17 year old pole dancer cannot be an underage innocent victim !  If so then half the world,s adult male population must be quaking in their boots

 

What he did would also be illegal in this country, soliciting a 17 year old for sex in Italy, Thailand, UK, and no doubt many other countries is illegal.  And I really do t think half the adult male population have been having sex with underage prostitutes, I guess we can assume you have though!

Berlusconi ?...misbehaving ? ...bribing ?....now this seems really hard to believe !!