Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is being hounded by prosecutors in Milan just because he had sex with a sixteen-year-old girl. Why not? After all, he paid for it. A billionaire media mogul, Berlusconi is a firm believer in free market capitalism, but prostitution is considered terribly unfashionable in Italy. The Berlusconi government even passed strict laws against prostitution, but also another law making the Prime Minister immune from prosecution. Che dilemma!
The courts revoked the immunity law? Ha! Silvio Berlusconi refuses to be questioned by magistrates about prostitution, and refuses to leave office for refusing to testify.
The young lady in question, runaway teen dancer Karima el-Mahroug (aka Karima Keyek), is nicknamed “Ruby Rubacuori,” “Ruby Heart-Stealer.” She must still be a teenager since she’s on Facebook [we pause briefly so you can “Like” her]. Ms. el-Mahroug was born in Morocco, so perhaps her compensation was merely an aspect of Italian foreign aid policy.
Two years ago, at the time of their alleged liaison, Prime Minister Berlusconi was 72 and Ms. el-Mahroug was 16. Buying sex from minors is frowned upon in Europe. Mr. Berlusconi claims his sex parties were just good, clean fun — after all, his dental hygienist was his procurer — and his bagman Giuseppe Spinelli gave money to sexy girls as an act of charity. Besides, he adds with his trademark delicacy, it’s better than being gay.
The gallant Mr. Berlusconi rescued “Ruby,” an underaged runaway, from a Milan jail where she was being held on theft charges. He abused his official powers to do so, and it is that chivalrous but illegal act that may actually end his political career.
Transcripts of telephone intercepts (wiretaps) of conversations between Mr. Berlusconi and “Ruby” and other party girls were sent to members of the Italian Parliament and appeared in Italian media outlets, even some owned by the Prime Minister. “Ruby” the tearful teen belly dancer now claims she never had sexual relations with Mr. Berlusconi, but evidence indicates otherwise, and in her phone transcripts she claimed the PM offered to pay for her silence. The Catholic Church has expressed displeasure with the Prime Minister’s very public private life.
La Famiglia Cristiana suggests a way out for the embattled politician: an insanity defense. The Catholic magazine claims Mr. Berlusconi suffers from ”a disease, something uncontrollable.”
The Italian PM’s orgies (“Bunga Bunga Parties“) have prompted comparisons with those of another Italian ruler, Caligula. Mr. Berlusconi must feel insulted by this, since Caligula was Roman and he is Milanese.
Girls! Don’t miss “The Silvio Berlusconi Guide to Dating.”
Image (“Berlusconi Seraglio, after Fernand Cormon”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: Berlusconi, Bunga Bunga, Italy, Karima el-Mahroug, Milan, Ruby Rubacuori, scandal, sex, Silvio Berlusconi
NotionsCapital 
January 22, 2011 at 2:11 am
You’ve got it perfectly. It’s the talk of the town over here [Rome, Italy].
January 22, 2011 at 12:34 pm
mikeb302000: While Rome and London are covering the Berlusconi affair, the USA has dropped it like a hot slice of pizza in favor of our own rumored sex scandal involing Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd.
A respected weekly newspaper, the National Enquirer, broke a story claiming that Todd Palin (Alaska’s former “First Dude“) had a long-running affair with a “massage therapist” who has been arrested for prostitution. Of course the Enquirer also ran a story that Sarah Palin had a man on the side but no one is mentioning that because the paper broke the true story of Senator John Edwards’ extramarital affair. That has had ongoing consequences since campaign funds were used to cover up the tawdry facts.
February 16, 2011 at 2:37 pm
[…] His case has attracted a bit of attention since: 1) the 74-year-old is accused of relations with an exotic teenage prostitute, and 2) Mr. Berlusconi is Italy’s Prime […]
November 8, 2011 at 1:03 am
[…] Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in the news again, but for his economic policies, not his romantic escapades. The Italian economy, third largest in Europe, is starting to tank. The P.M.’s allies are […]
February 25, 2012 at 6:54 pm
[…] in jeopardy in another, more-tabloid-friendly case. He’s accused of having relations with an under-aged Moroccan prostitute and abusing his official powers to keep her out of […]