Epress.am News from Armenia
Silvio Berlusconi’s defense lawyers on Tuesday named George Clooney, the Italian foreign minister and a bevy of showgirls as witnesses at the Italian prime minister’s upcoming prostitution trial, an attorney and news reports said.
Prosecutors, for their part, have asked to hear from 136 witnesses, including the Moroccan teenager at the center of the scandal and 32 other women who allegedly worked as prostitutes during parties at Berlusconi’s villa, according to Italian news reports.
Both sides presented their lists of witnesses at the Milan tribunal where the trial opens next week. A judge must now decide which witnesses to admit.
Berlusconi, 74, is accused of having paid for sex with the Moroccan, who is known as Ruby and was 17 at the time, and then using his influence to try to cover it up. The prime minister denies wrongdoing.
Clooney was listed because Ruby once said she had seen the Hollywood star and his Italian girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis at one of Berlusconi’s parties, according to the law firm representing Berlusconi.
“We want to see if they confirm this fact or not,” said attorney Piersilvio Cipollotti.
An email sent to Clooney’s representative wasn’t immediately answered, reports the Los Angeles Times, with sources from AP.
Italian newspapers reported months ago that Ruby had said Clooney, who has a mansion on Lake Como north of Milan, and Canalis were guests at one of Berlusconi’s parties. According to a Feb. 22 report in leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, prosecutors talked with Canalis last month and she denied that she and Clooney attended any of Berlusconi’s parties.
Berlusconi’s defense also listed Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and other Cabinet officials amid the 78 people named as witnesses, Cipollotti said. Mariano Apicella, the Neapolitan composer who performs for Berlusconi, as well as showgirls and TV personalities who frequented Berlusconi’s parties were also named, according to the ANSA and LaPresse news agencies.
Ruby, whose real name is Karima el-Mahroug, turned 18 in November.
Berlusconi is accused of having had several sexual encounters with her between Valentine’s Day last year through May 2, 2010, in exchange for money. The premier is also accused of abusing his influence when he called police in May to get Ruby out of custody in Milan, where she had been held for an unrelated theft. She was eventually released.
Prosecutors say the prime minister wanted to keep his sexual relations with the girl secret. Berlusconi has said he intervened because he believed Ruby was the niece of now ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and wanted to prevent a diplomatic incident.