Silvio Berlusconi faces new probe into his links to belly dancer Ruby, aged 17

Published on Friday 14 January 2011 15:20

Prosecutors are investigating whether premier Silvio Berlusconi paid an under-aged belly dancer for sex and then abused his power in a bid to cover up their encounters, officials said yesterday.

The investigation is the latest in a litany of accusations of sexual and financial impropriety aimed at the billionaire media tycoon. Mr Berlusconi has been politically weakened in recent months by a challenge from a former ally, while a law shielding him from two unrelated trials in Milan was significantly diminished this week by a ruling of Italy's Constitutional Court.

According to a statement by Milan prosecutors, the new probe is looking into whether the 74-year-old had sex with a then 17-year-old Karima Keyek, whose stage name is Ruby Rubicuore, and then abused his office in a bid to cover his tracks.

Prosecutors yesterday issued a summons for Mr Berlusconi to appear for questioning and ordered Milan police to search the offices of various people linked to the case, including a showgirl-turned-politician close to him.

The questioning could take place next week, with prosecutors likely to press for a fast-track trial. Mr Berlusconi's attorneys, Nicolo Ghedini and Piero Longo, said the probe - launched on 21 December last year - represented a "very serious interference in the prime minister's private life that has no precedent in the country's judicial history". They called the case media-driven, and said the allegations "have already been refuted by all witwnesses and people directly involved".

In recent years, Mr Berlusconi has been engulfed in a series of scandals, including alleged encounters with two prostitutes. In one case, call girl Patrizia D'Addario said she spent the night with him on the night Barack Obama was elected US president. She later gave tapes of her "encounter" to a magazine.

In 2009, his second wife, Veronica Lario, announced she was divorcing him, citing his alleged fondness for younger women, and presence at the birthday party of an 18-year-old model, who called him "Papi".

Mr Berlusconi has made no apologies, saying, "I love life, I love women!" In the past he denied paying for sex, though he also said, "I'm no saint."

The Ruby case became public months ago when it emerged Mr Berlusconi had intervened last May to secure the girl's release from police custody on suspicion of theft. According to reports, he told police she was the niece of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

When the scandal broke, Mr Berlusconi said he had only called police to tell them that somebody acting as the girl's guardian was going to the station where she was being held.The guardian was Nicole Minetti, the former showgirl whose offices were searched by police. She is also Mr Berlusconi's dental hygienist and a member of a regional assembly in Milan.

Ruby has since said she had been at the premier's villa and had lied about her age, saying she was 24 instead of 17. But she denied having sex with him. The age of consent in Italy is 14, but prostituting minors under 18 is a crime. Ruby is now over 18.

Many Berlusconi allies claim he is being pursued by left-leaning magistrates. "It's an old script," said Daniele Capezzone, for Mr Berlusconi's party. "If someone… still believes he can be defeated through judicial means, once again they will be sorely disappointed."