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Berlusconi Sentenced to 7 Years in Sex Case Berlusconi Sentenced to 7 Years in Sex Case
(about 2 hours later)
ROME — A court in Milan on Monday found former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi guilty of paying for sex with a minor and abusing his office to cover it up, handing him a seven-year jail sentence and banning him from public office for life. ROME — A Milan court on Monday found former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi guilty of paying for sex with a minor and abusing his office to cover it up, handing him a seven-year jail sentence and banning him from public office for life.
Mr. Berlusconi waited more than three hours before posting his disappointment on his Facebook page. “I was really convinced that they would acquit me, because it was impossible to condemn me based on the facts,” Mr. Berlusconi wrote. “I was really convinced that they would acquit me, because it was impossible to convict me based on the facts,” Mr. Berlusconi wrote on his Facebook page.
“Instead they issued an incredible verdict, of untold violence that has never been seen before, in order to eliminate me from the political life of this country. Not only is this a page of bad justice, but it is an offense to all those Italians who believed in me, and trusted my commitment toward this country. But I, once again, mean to resist against this persecution because I am absolutely innocent and I don’t want to abandon my battle to make Italy a free and just country.” “Instead they issued an incredible verdict, of untold violence that has never been seen before, in order to eliminate me from the political life of this country. Not only is this a page of bad justice, but it is an offense to all those Italians who believed in me, and trusted my commitment toward this country, he wrote. “But I, once again, mean to resist against this persecution because I am absolutely innocent and I don’t want to abandon my battle to make Italy a free and just country.”
The ruling, like most things involving Mr. Berlusconi, polarized Italy. It shook the governing coalition in which Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right party is participating, but was not expected to topple it. The former prime minister, who denies wrongdoing, does not immediately have to leave his seat in Parliament while the case faces two rounds of appeals.The ruling, like most things involving Mr. Berlusconi, polarized Italy. It shook the governing coalition in which Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right party is participating, but was not expected to topple it. The former prime minister, who denies wrongdoing, does not immediately have to leave his seat in Parliament while the case faces two rounds of appeals.
The trial, involving a then under-age woman named Karima El-Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby Heart-Stealer,” had become the most personal, and tawdry, of Mr. Berlusconi’s many legal sagas. The three presiding judges, all women, handed Mr. Berlusconi a seven-year sentence, tougher than the six years that prosecutors had requested. The trial, involving a young woman named Karima El-Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby Heart-Stealer,” had become the most personal, and tawdry, of Mr. Berlusconi’s many legal sagas. The courtroom testimony of after-dinner entertainment at Mr. Berlusconi’s villa near Milan — accounts that varied from PG to X-rated depending on the witnesses — enthralled some Italians but irritated others, who wondered how it was possible that he could remain in politics in light of his legal woes.
Demonstrators, both pro and anti-Berlusconi, gathered outside the Milan courthouse for the ruling, and the courtroom was packed with journalists from around the world. Demonstrators, both pro- and anti-Berlusconi, gathered outside the Milan courthouse on Monday, and the courtroom was packed with journalists from around the world.
Mr. Berlusconi, 76, who is widely seen as remaining in politics in order to keep his parliamentary immunity and to protect his business interests — has vehemently denied all the charges, accusing prosecutors of being on a left-wing witch hunt against him. His critics wonder how it is possible that he can remain in office in light of his legal woes. Mr. Berlusconi, 76, who is widely seen as remaining in politics to keep his parliamentary immunity and to protect his business interests — has vehemently denied the charges, accusing prosecutors of being on a left-wing witch hunt against him. His lawyers had tried to change the location of the trial, arguing that the Milanese judicial milieu was biased against Mr. Berlusconi, who has faced several trials in that city.
The ruling inevitably puts strains on the nearly two-month-old government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, a coalition that unites the prime minister’s center-left Democratic Party with Mr. Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party for the first time. The three presiding judges, all women, handed Mr. Berlusconi a seven-year sentence, tougher than the six years that prosecutors had requested. Niccolò Ghedini, Mr. Berlusconi’s lawyer, said that he had expected the verdict. “I’ve been saying for three years that this trial should have never taken place here,” Mr. Ghedini told reporters outside the courtroom. He called the verdict “surreal” and said it would be appealed.
Still, Sergio Fabbrini, director of the school of government at Luiss University in Rome, said he did not expect the court’s ruling to deeply threaten the government. Mr. Berlusconi was found guilty of paying for sex with Ms. Mahroug, who was under age at the time she attended parties at his villa. Though Ms. Mahroug denied that charge, she admitted that the prime minister gave her 7,000 euros, or about $9,100, the first time she visited his villa for a party in 2010. He was also convicted of abusing his office by calling the police to intervene when she was detained in May 2010 for theft. Mr. Berlusconi has said he called the police in order to avoid a diplomatic incident because he had been told that Ms. Mahroug was the niece of Hosni Mubarak, then the Egyptian president.
Mr. Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party and its bloc placed a narrow second in February’s elections, which led to months of stalemate and eventually a coalition government led by Mr. Letta. Despite his many legal cases and scandals, Mr. Berlusconi remains the strongest leader of the center-right in Italy, bolstered by a significant lack of viable alternatives. Monday’s ruling inevitably puts strains on the nearly two-month-old government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, a coalition that unites the prime minister’s center-left Democratic Party with Mr. Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party for the first time.
But Mr. Berlusconi’s popularity has been slipping in opinion polls, Mr. Fabbrini noted, and the former prime minister has no interest in withdrawing his support from the coalition for the moment. “I don’t see how they could go to new elections,” Mr. Fabbrini said. The coalition has so far withstood other moments of tension linked to the former prime minister’s legal woes. In May, an appeals trial upheld Mr. Berlusconi’s conviction for tax fraud in a film rights case involving his Mediaset television empire, a verdict that carries a four-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from holding public office. A final ruling in that case is expected later this year, though the ban would be upheld only after receiving parliamentary approval. Even if he were definitively convicted, under Italian custom the former prime minister would most likely not go to prison because of his age.
“I expect a lot of criticism” of the magistrates and “a lot of smoke, but no serious risk,” he added. Mr. Berlusconi “is in a corner; he can’t transform this verdict into an electoral campaign this time.” But some of Mr. Berlusconi’s loyal supporters are ready — indeed, clamoring — to wage war against what they see as a politicized justice system scheming to oust Mr. Berlusconi. His People of Liberty party and its bloc placed a narrow second in February’s elections. In recent weeks, some of his political allies threatened to withdraw their support from the government should the former prime minister be banned from public office.
In the coalition, Mr. Berlusconi has been fighting to abolish an unpopular property-tax increase imposed by former Prime Minister Mario Monti, and wants to delay raising Italy’s value-added tax, measures Italy had committed to in order to bring its budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product. While voicing his anger at the various verdicts that have complicated his legal standing in recent weeks, Mr. Berlusconi has reined in his allies, mindful that his popularity has been slipping in opinion polls. In a reflection of that fact, the center-left easily won local elections throughout Italy last month.
But Mr. Letta’s tenure has largely been overshadowed by Mr. Berlusconi’s legal troubles. “I expect a lot of criticism” of the magistrates and “a lot of smoke, but no serious risk” to the government, said Sergio Fabbrini, director of the school of government at Luiss University in Rome. “I don’t see how they could go to new elections,” Mr. Fabbrini said. Mr. Berlusconi “is in a corner; he can’t transform this verdict into an electoral campaign this time.”
Both Mr. Berlusconi and Ms. Mahroug say they did not have sex, although Ms. Mahroug said the prime minister gave her 7,000 euros, or about $9,100, the first time she visited his villa for a party in 2010. The judges found Mr. Berlusconi guilty of paying Ms. Mahroug for sex before she turned 18 and abusing his office by calling the police to intervene when she was detained in May 2010 for theft.
Mr. Berlusconi had said he called the police in order to avoid a diplomatic incident because he had been told that Ms. Mahroug was the niece of Hosni Mubarak, then the Egyptian president.
In the trial, which began more than two years ago, Milan prosecutors painted a picture in which young women attended parties at Mr. Berlusconi’s private residence near Milan in exchange for money and gifts.
They said the evenings were orchestrated by a former news anchor on one of Mr. Berlusconi’s television networks, a show business agent and a former dental hygienist-turned regional politician. All three, who face a separate trial, deny wrongdoing.
In testimony in the separate trial for the three aides, Ms. El-Mahroug said that she received up to 3,000 euros in cash for the half-dozen evenings that she attended what have become famously known in Italy as “bunga bunga” parties at Mr. Berlusconi’s house. Other women testified that they lived in apartments owned by Mr. Berlusconi in Milan at the time of the parties, and some said they still receive money from him.
During the trial, a Brazilian model and showgirl said she had worn a mask depicting President Obama to one party at the former prime minister’s house, while another dressed up like one of the prosecutors overseeing the Ruby trial itself.
Ms. El-Mahroug testified last month that the in-house disco in Mr. Berlusconi’s villa had a pole for erotic dancing where a former regional politician dressed up like a nun and performed a strip tease.
While the “Ruby Trial” has become a media spectacle, Mr. Berlusconi’s political career — and with it the stability of the Letta government — hinge on a separate trial in which Mr. Berlusconi has been convicted of tax fraud by two lower courts in a case involving his Mediaset television empire.
The final ruling by Italy’s highest court is expected later this year. If it upholds the lower court rulings, Mr. Berlusconi could be banned from holding public office for five years, with parliamentary approval. But under Italian custom, the former prime minister would most likely not go to prison because of his age.
According to Italian news media reports, Mr. Berlusconi wants President Giorgio Napolitano to appoint him a senator for life so he can keep his immunity.

Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting.

Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting.