An "unwell" former premier and
media magnate Silvio Berlusconi on Monday missed a hearing of a
trial for allegedly bribing witnesses to lie about his alleged
bunga bunga sex parties, his lawyer said.
The lawyer said the former three-time premier and centre-right
Forza Italia (FI) party leader had "taken a turn for the worse"
after appearing to have made a full recovery from a bout of
COVID.
Berlusconi's doctors have told him to stay home and rest up, the
lawyer said.
Berlusconi filed a 'legitimate impediment' plea to miss the last
hearing in mid-October of the Ruby Ter trial, so-called because
it si the third trial to stem from the case of a teenage
Moroccan runaway, nightclub dancer and prostitute named Ruby
Heartstealer.
Berlusconi, 84, was acquitted of paying for sex with her while
she was underage after a court found he could not have known how
old she was.
Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, was allegedly paid
by Berlusconi to deny prosecutors' claims the parties were
orgies where sex was paid for.
But she is not among the 29 defendants in the current trial
which include Berlusconi and several young women he allegedly
bribed to say the parties were innocent affairs.
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