{"id":24749,"date":"2023-02-15T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T17:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=24749"},"modified":"2023-02-15T12:34:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T17:34:00","slug":"italy-ex-pm-silvio-berlusconi-acquitted-in-bunga-bunga-party-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/02\/15\/italy-ex-pm-silvio-berlusconi-acquitted-in-bunga-bunga-party-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi acquitted in ‘bunga-bunga’ party case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Italian former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been acquitted of bribing witnesses to lie about his notorious “bunga-bunga” parties.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The billionaire media tycoon, 86, was accused of paying young showgirls and others to give false testimony about the allegedly raunchy parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The other 28 defendants were also acquitted – among them Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby, who figured in an earlier Berlusconi case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Berlusconi has faced many court cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In the Ruby case, the right-wing senator won an appeal against his conviction for paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Ruby and he both denied having had sex and she denied having ever been a prostitute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In his various court cases, he has denied wrongdoing, accusing prosecutors of pursuing a political vendetta against him. He insisted the parties – described by some as “orgies” – were actually elegant dinners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The only Berlusconi trial that ended in a conviction was his sentencing for tax fraud in 2013. Given his age, Italian justice treated him leniently – he did a year of community service at a care home near Milan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Karima<\/picture><\/span><\/div>
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Karima El Mahroug, or “Ruby”, leaving court after her acquittal (Image: EPA)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Berlusconi was prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011. He was accused of giving witnesses millions of euros in hush money in the “bunga-bunga” trial, but said the money was given as compensation for reputational damage to people linked to the notorious parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He was temporarily barred from political office over his conviction for tax fraud, but won a seat in the Senate in 2022 elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His Forza Italia party plays a key role in Italy’s ruling right-wing coalition, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She hailed his acquittal as “excellent news that puts an end to a long legal case that also had important repercussions on Italian political and institutional life”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As Italian leader, Berlusconi forged a close friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And this week, Berlusconi made controversial comments about the war in Ukraine which were condemned by Kyiv.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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