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| Berlusconi Is Sentenced to Seven Years in Sex Case, but Can Still Appeal Verdict | Berlusconi Is Sentenced to Seven Years in Sex Case, but Can Still Appeal Verdict |
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| 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. | 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. |
| “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. | “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,” 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.” | “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 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. | 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 on Monday. | Demonstrators, both pro- and anti-Berlusconi, gathered outside the Milan courthouse on Monday. |
| 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. | 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 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 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. | 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 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. |
| 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 had given 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 to avoid a diplomatic incident because he had been told that Ms. Mahroug was a niece of Hosni Mubarak, then the Egyptian president. | 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 had given 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 to avoid a diplomatic incident because he had been told that Ms. Mahroug was a niece of Hosni Mubarak, then the Egyptian president. |
| Monday’s ruling puts strains on the nearly two-month-old government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which unites the prime minister’s center-left Democratic Party with Mr. Berlusconi’s People of Liberty. | Monday’s ruling puts strains on the nearly two-month-old government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which unites the prime minister’s center-left Democratic Party with Mr. Berlusconi’s People of Liberty. |
| 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. | |
Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting. | Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting. |