Blimey, Buffoon Berlusconi's Bad

[David Guyatt]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb...rosecution

Silvio Berlusconi to face charges as early as next week, prosecutors say

Milanese prosecutor expects to ask for indictment over allegations Italian PM abused position to cover up sex claims

John Hooper in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011 19.41 GMT


Silvio Berlusconi looks on during the recording of 'Porta a porta', an Italian TV programme. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

Prosecutors investigating Silvio Berlusconi said today that they were expecting to recommend the Italian prime minister be charged with abusing his position to cover up allegations that he had paid an underage prostitute.

In a move that will electrify the country's already tense political situation, Milan's chief prosecutor, Edmondo Bruti Liberati, who has overseen the investigation into Berlusconi, said a request for an immediate indictment would be submitted to a judge "most likely on Monday or Tuesday".

The prime minister is formally suspected of paying for an underage prostitute and abusing his official position to cover it up. Together, the offences carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Prosecutors met to discuss whether they should seek Berlusconi's immediate indictment on both charges, or only the second. A trial on juvenile prostitution charges is normally preceded by committal proceedings.

News of the impending request came as it was reported that the girl at the centre of the investigation is pregnant and has plans to marry. The web site of the weekly magazine Oggi quoted well-informed sources as saying Karima el-Mahroug, a Moroccan runaway who visited Berlusconi's home while still 17 years old, was two months pregnant. The magazine had earlier said that she and her boyfriend had published their marriage bans in his native Genoa.

It is an offence under Italian law to pay for sex with a prostitute aged under 18. El-Mahroug and Berlusconi have both denied having a sexual relationship.

Meanwhile the relationship at the heart of the latest string of scandals involving the Italian prime minister's private life returned to haunt him.

In April 2009, it emerged that he had attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring actor and model, Noemi Letizia, who first revealed that Berlusconi was known to his young, female acquaintances as "papi" (daddy). Mystery still surrounds the exact nature of their relationship, however.

According to reports in the Italian media, evidence already gathered by the prosecutors in the latest case suggested that Letizia's mother received a payment of €20,000 (£17,000) from Berlusconi last year.

Meanwhile, Italy's lower house is braced for a debate on whether to let investigators conduct a crucial search at the offices of Berlusconi's personal accountant who, according to leaked details of the inquiry, made numerous payments to young women who were Berlusconi's guests at his villa near Milan.

Those who are expected to vote against the prosecutors include Simeone Di Cagno Abbrescia from Berlusconi's party, who has found that he too has to do some explaining about his private life.

On Tuesday, the weekly magazine Oggi published a photograph on its website showing the 65-year-old deputy from Bari in the south of Italy using an iPad to view a prostitute's advertisement. Di Cagno put it down to his lack of expertise in navigating the internet.

"I was looking at the news agencies and the websites of the dailies," he said, "when this page suddenly appeared"

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