Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, announced Monday that she has ordered the State Attorney’s Office to withdraw as a prosecutor from the so-called ‘Ruby case’, the investigation opened against conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi for his private parties in which he allegedly had sexual relations with underage prostitutes.
Meloni has issued a press release in which he stresses that the involvement of the State Attorney’s Office dates back to 2017 when the government of Paolo Gentiloni made the «political» decision to get involved in this trial.
The note stresses that the new government formed in October 2022 «direct expression of the popular will» has decided to «re-evaluate» the original decision. «This seems all the more appropriate in light of the acquittals that first the Court of Appeal of Milan with a July 2014 judgment, which became irrevocable, and then the Court of Rome with a November 2022 judgment ruled in favor of Senator Berlusconi in segments of this same case,» it argues.
Meloni’s announcement coincides with the good results achieved this Sunday by the parties that support Meloni in the Government, including Forza Italia, the formation led by Berlusconi, in the regional elections in Lazio and Lombardy.
The ‘Ruby’ case is named after the alias used by the dancer Karima el Mahroug, who according to the prosecution was 17 years old when she attended these parties and had sexual relations with Berlusconi in exchange for money and other favors. The process has given rise to three parallel trials, two of which have been closed with the acquittal of the multimillionaire.
The case was opened following the arrest in Milan of El Mahroug for a robbery on May 28, 2010. Then Prime Minister Berlusconi claimed that she was the niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and arranged for her release. A few days later she was hospitalized after an argument with prostitute Michelle Conceicao and was later granted protection as a protected witness.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
