ROME – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial in April over allegations that he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and abused his power by trying to get her cleared of theft, a judge ruled on Tuesday. Granting a request by Milan magistrates, Judge Cristina Di Censo said the first hearing would take place on April 6, in a move that brings a long-running probe into the premier’s private life to a head.
Following the announcement, the prime minister’s camp reiterated its claims that Berlusconi was the victim of a witch hunt by his political opponents. “We didn’t expect anything else,” his lawyers said. Berlusconi, whose bedroom antics sparked a nationwide protest by Italian women on the weekend, will be tried by three female judges. In the trial, the prime minister will have to answer allegations that he paid for sex with a nightclub dancer called “Ruby the Heart Stealer,” who was 17 at the time, and improperly used his power to request that she be released from police custody after she was arrested for theft.
The accusations come as part of a probe into the premier’s private life which have sent Italian media into a frenzy, splashing rumours of orgies with prostitutes and would-be show girls over the front pages.
