Berlusconi acquitted in witness bribery case

A court in Milan has acquitted former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was suspected of bribing witnesses in a case involving the alleged use of underage prostitutes. About it informs ANSA agency.

According to the agency, in addition to Berlusconi, the remaining 28 defendants were acquitted. They were suspected of taking bribes for giving false testimony in the “Ruby case”. It is clarified that the court made such a decision in connection with the “lack of fact” of the crime.

Karima el Marug (nickname Ruby), the main defendant in the case, also received an acquittal.

In 2013, a Milan court sentenced Berlusconi to seven years in prison for organizing sex parties at his villa Arcora and having an intimate relationship with then-underage Moroccan dancer Karima el-Maruk. However, in 2014, the Italian Court of Appeal acquitted the ex-premier, in 2015 this decision confirmed Supreme Court of the country.

However, in 2017, Berlusconi was charged with bribing witnesses in the Ruby case. The newspaper La Repubblica claimed that until the end of 2016, the politician paid money to four girls who participated in events at the prime minister’s villa. He passed them on through his personal accountant, Giuseppe Spinelli.

In May 2022, the Milan prosecutor’s office requested six years in prison for Berlusconi in a corruption case. The case was simultaneously considered in Rome. Last November, the Roman court also justified ex-premier due to the “lack of fact” of the crime.