Bunga bunga back in court as Berlusconi sex saga resumes

Italy’s top court on Tuesday reviews former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s acquittal on charges of paying for sex with an under-age exotic dancer known as “Ruby the heart stealer”. In a hearing which could make or break the media tycoon’s hopes of a return to the frontline of politics, judges at the Court of Cassation will decide whether to uphold an appeal court’s decision to clear Berlusconi of the most serious charges he has faced in his scandal-stained career. The AC Milan owner was convicted in June 2013 of having paid-for sex with Ruby when she was 17, a year younger than the legal minimum for a prostitute in Italy.

Politically, he is in a coma but the moment he draws his final breath is not predictable. Further judicial problems could bring that moment. But if the case goes his way - and my feeling is that it is likely to - then he remains a very powerful man. As long as he has the votes in parliament he can damage Renzi.

Giovanni Orsina, an academic at the LUISS business school in Rome

The pivotal hearing comes just days after Berlusconi, 78, completed almost a year of community service in an old people’s home as punishment for a 2013 conviction for corporate tax fraud. Judges at the first Ruby trial accepted the prosecution’s case that Berlusconi had paid for sex with the dancer, whose real name is Karima El-Mahroug, and that he had abused his power to cover it up. A year later, appeal judges said there was no evidence the billionaire had abused his power or that he knew the Moroccan-born dancer was 17. Prosecutors had accused Berlusconi of pressuring the police while he was still prime minister to release El-Mahroug from custody when she was arrested for theft — apparently out of concern that she could reveal their liaison.

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