Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in prison in the “Rubygate” case and will no longer be allowed to hold public office again, according to Italian media.
Berlusconi was found guilty by a Milan court of paying for sex with a minor and of abusing his political position to cover it up. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six years in prison for the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, on trial in Milan for having sexual relations with the teen Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby Heart-Stealer”.
In addition, Berlusconi was found guilty of asking the police for the release from detention of the teenage girl saying that she was the niece of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi will appeal to a superior court the Milan court sentencing, according to ANSA agency.
“I was really convinced that they would acquit me, because it was impossible to convict me based on the facts,” said Berlusconi on his Facebook page, adding: ” Instead they issued an incredible verdict, of untold violence that has never been seen before, in order to eliminate me from the political life of this country. Not only is this a page of bad justice, but it is an offense to all those Italians who believed in me, and trusted my commitment toward this country.”
“This is beyond reality,” said Berlusconi’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini. “I’m calm because I’ve been saying for three years that this trial should never have taken place here,” said the lawyer, adding that he will appeal within 40 days.
“It is shameful, it is a political sentence that has nothing to do with justice,” said Daniela Santanché, and MP from Berlusconi’s PdL party.
“It is absurd to think that the current government can continue to work calmly while the leader of one of the parties backing it is being massacred politically,” said Sandro Bondi, a PdL senator.
Berlusconi will not serve any jail time before all the appeals will be exhausted, a long legal battle which might take years.
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