Berlusconi is jailed for seven years over bunga bunga scandal (but don't expect to see him behind bars any time soon)
- Berlusconi found guilty of paying a teenager for sex
- Age of consent is 14 in Italy but it's illegal to pay anyone under 18 for sex
- He was sentenced to seven years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics
- But he may never serve any jail time if he gets verdict overturned on appeal
- Ex-premier recently found guilty of tax fraud which his lawyers are appealing
Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in jail for sex and corruption offences yesterday – but doubts were immediately raised about whether he will ever spend a day behind bars.
A court in Milan ruled the billionaire politician, 76, had sex with underage prostitute ‘Ruby the Heartstealer’ at his bunga bunga parties while in office and used his power to cover it up.
In a now infamous phone call, the ex-premier freed the former exotic dancer – real name Karima El Mahroug – from police custody by claiming she was the niece of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
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Verdict: Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, pictured left, was found guilty today of paying Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the heart-stealer, pictured right, for sex at a 'bunga bunga' party
Sentenced: President of the court Giulia Turri (centre) read out the damning verdict
But despite the verdict, which Berlusconi was not in court to hear, experts said he might never spend any time behind bars because of his age and Italy’s lengthy appeals process.
The ruling is not final until he has exhausted two levels of appeal, and even then he may not see the inside of a cell because of the country’s lenient laws for sentencing over-70s.
Berlusconi has been brought to trial some 30 times, although very rarely convicted. Last month an appeals court upheld a sentence against him for tax fraud, leaving him one more appeal at the end of this year.
Questioned: Karima El Mahrough appeared in court in a previous trial in Milan. But Berlusconi's team eventually dropped her from the witness list after she failed to show on a couple of occasions in the current trial
Appeals: Silvio Berlusconi can appeal against the decision of the Milan Court, pictured, before it becomes final - meaning he will not serve any time in prison if his appeals are successful If that verdict also goes against him, the original sentence of four years in jail and a five-year bar from holding public office would take effect, essentially ending his political career.
The latest ruling followed a two-year trial in which the court heard titillating details of a ‘ring of prostitution’ centred at Berlusconi’s mansion outside Milan.
At the time of the bunga bunga parties, in 2010, Ruby was 17, a year under the legal age for prostitution in Italy.
Berlusconi always claimed the soirees were ‘elegant dinners’ with an atmosphere of ‘good cheer’.
But this version of events contrasted wildly with that of the prosecutors, who said Ruby was ‘part of a prostitution system set up for the personal sexual satisfaction of the defendant’.
Former undersecretary to the minister of Platform Accomplishment during Berlusconi's time in office, Daniela Santanche, pictured center, listens as the verdict against the former PM is read out
Milan's chief prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati, left, shakes hand with with Silvio Berlusconi lawyer Niccolo' Ghedini who described the sentence as unjust
Alias: Karima el-Mahroug is better known as 'Ruby the Heartbreaker'
Statement: Silvio Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolo Ghedini speaks to reporters outside the courthouse in Milan, Italy, today after judges found him guilty of having sex with a minor
culled Daily Mail UK
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