Former Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has been cleared of the charges that he had sex with an underage prostitute and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up, The Guardian reports.
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Former Italian PM cleared of sexual offence charges
The ruling was delivered by judges at the court of cassation after 9 hours of deliberation.
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The ruling was delivered by judges at the court of cassation after 9 hours of deliberations.
Back in 2013, Berlusconi had been convicted for having sex with 17-year-old, Karima el-Mahrougan and given a 7-year jail term as well as placed on a lifetime ban from public office.
He however repeatedly denied the charges, maintaining that he only tried to help the Moroccan national when she was later arrested for an alleged theft because he thought she was a niece of the then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
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A counter-appeal was filed by prosecutors to the court of cassation for which he has now been acquitted bringing to an end the lengthy legal saga which lifted the lid on the “bunga bunga” sex parties hosted by the Belusconi.
78-year-old Berlusconi, who served 3 terms as premier is now free to resume a central role in politics at the helm of his centre-right Forza Italia party.
Berlusconi’s entire political career has been plagued by allegations of criminal behaviour and serial court cases. Just last week, he finished serving a community service order for corporate tax fraud.
He remains under investigation for allegedly paying off young women who attended his famous “bunga bunga” parties in return for false testimonies in the el-Mahroug trial, there's also an outstanding charge that he paid a senator €3m (about N632 million) in 2006 to join his party and destabilise a centre-left government.
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