Showing posts with label Karima el Mahroug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karima el Mahroug. Show all posts

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Berlusconi: is Ruby the Heart Stealer using your money in Mexico and Dubai?


Friday, 28 March 2014. According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica Berlusconi's favourite night dancer Karima El Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) has started a new life, taking expensive holidays, developing a luxury resort in Mexico and investing in property in the Middle East. Where did she get the money from?


Karima El Mahroug – aka Ruby the Heart Stealer – is a young former erotic dancer (she is now 21) who took part in the bunga-bunga parties in Berlusconi's villa in Arcore and who is believed to have had sex with the owner of the manor in 2010 when she was still under-age (and Mr Berlusconi was sentenced to a 7-year term in jail for having slept with her and for having used his power as Italy's prime minister to try and hide the story).


Ruby the Heart Stealer, whose real name is Karima El-Mahroug, in a photo while in Mexico (Playa del Carmen's beach)
Ruby the Heart Stealer (real name Karima El-Mahroug) having pretty good time in Mexico (Playa del Carmen's beach)

Now, in 2010 the prosecutors in charge with the sex scandal trial (the result of the so-called Rubygate investigation) intercepted a phone conversation when Ruby – talking to a friend – said that she had received €5 million from the billionaire (which is roughly £4.1m or $6.9).

Later on the Moroccan erotic dancer (and call-girl, if you listen to Milan's judges), said that all that stuff (and other stuff she had been telling the judges) was just a made-up show off and she had been “talking crap”, and so on.

Saturday 25 January 2014

Berlusconi faces new investigations in prostitution case (and he's not happy)


Thursday, 23 January 2014. Silvio Berlusconi – who has already been given a 7-year sentence – risks to get more as prosecutors investigate over accusations he and his lawyers corrupted witnesses of the sex scandal trial.


The investigations over the alleged prostitution ring set by Mr Berlusconi aren't finished yet, we are now in the so-called phase three  - according to the news -, aka Rubygate ter or Rubygate 3.0 (the name originates from Ruby the Heartstealer, the nom de guerre – the real name is Karima El Mahroug - of the girl who apparently had sex with the politician when still a teenager).


Silvio Berlusconi faces yet another investigation linked to the bunga-bunga sex scandal
The two previous spells of the proceedings were pretty disastrous for the former prime minister and his friends... With the first episode of the sex scandal trial, Berlusconi won a 7-year sentence (child prostitution and abuse of office), with the second stint – the Ruby-bis - it was his protégé Nicole Minetti and one of his friends and employee Emilio Fede who received a conviction. 7 years apiece, details in our post (click here to read it). 

Saturday 4 January 2014

Berlusconi files appeal against bunga-bunga sex conviction

Thursday, 2 January 2014. Silvio Berlusconi appeals against his conviction for paying for sex with a minor and abuse of office, nasty things he did when Prime Minister of Italy, according to judges.


Berlusconi just couldn't resist teenage Ruby's charm
Silvio Berlusconi was given a 7-year sentence in the end of June 2013 for having sex with a minor (the nightclub dancer and stripper Karima El Mahroug, better known as Ruby the Heartstealer, her stage name) and for abusing of his office as a prime minister, when he tried to cover the story that threaten to become public, as the young girl was stopped by the police.

Berlusconi personally phoned the policemen, saying that they better release Ruby into the safe hands of show-girl-turned-into-politician Nicole Minetti (the attractive young woman will also get a 7-year sentence – later on – for procuring women for the former Italian prime minister's bunga-bunga parties in Villa San Martino), since it seemed she's the nephew of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak.

Friday 22 November 2013

Berlusconi's bunga bunga parties' details disclosed by Milan's court

Ruby the Heartstealer received from Silvio Berlusconi
"money and jewellery" in exchange for sex, according to Milan's judges

Thursday, 21 November 2013. Milan's court publishes details of Berlusconi conviction, is bunga bunga parties and his exchange of money and jewellery for sex with under-age dancer Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer).


The proceedings about the sex scandal that involved Silvio Berlusconi ended up with a seven-year sentence, appeal pending. It's no more on the news, as it happened last June, but now new details have been disclosed about the sex scandal, as the Milan's court published a 350-page document about testimonies, bunga bunga parties and – of course – lots of women. 

The former prime minister of Italy will also be banned from public office for life (if he fails to win the appeal to the sentence), a problem that adds up to Berlusconi's woes: on Wednesday the Senate will decide whether to expel him from the Italian parliament, in the wake of his conviction for tax fraud (no appeal pending, this one is definitive).

Saturday 7 September 2013

Berlusconi is the target of a lobby plot, according to his daughter Barbara



Saturday, 7 September 2013. Barbara Berlusconi, in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, says that a lobby is trying do to her father in.


Barbara Berlusconi in night dress with her father Silvio Berlusconi
Barbara Berlusconi with her father Silvio
Barbara Berlusconi was at the business workshop in Cernobbio's beautiful Villa d'Este, when she was reached by a quite unusual interviewer, the (former?) confidante of her mother Veronica Lario (the interview was published by Rome's newspaper Il Messaggero), asking Barbara to comment the Silvio Berlusconi's legal woes and take a stance in the entangled situation of Italian politics.

«The story of my father and of my family is not that of a handful of tax evaders. [...] The story of Silvio Berlusconi can not end in shame» she said, referring to the recent conviction of the media tycoon for tax fraud, «There are those who want to hunt my father from politics for their own interests.

Saturday 20 July 2013

Berlusconi's associates follow Silvio and collect jail terms for sex-related charges

Friday, 19 July 2013. After Silvio Berlusconi's conviction to a 7-year term in prison, three of his associates – Emilio Fede, Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti – receive their share as a Milan's court finds them guilty of aiding and abetting prostitution.


Nicole Minetti in court (here you can find out-of-the-court photos of Nicole Minetti 
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the first to be convicted in connection with the infamous bunga-bunga parties, he has been sentenced to seven years, together with a lifetime ban on holding public office.


Berlusconi's sentenced was based on charges of abuse of power (as a PM) and paying for sex a minor prostitute, namely the 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug (generally known as Ruby the Heartstealer).

Berlusconi denies having had sex for money at all (with any woman in the world, for that matters: he does not need any money to lay females!), denies abuse of power charges (it was just a nice phone call to a police station, to ask agents to release Ruby the Heartstealer, saying that she was the granddaughter of

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Berlusconi's tax fraud appeal hearing date set too early?


Wednesday, 10 July 2013. A decision by the Court of Cassation – which sets for as early as 30 July Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud appeal hearing – gets Italy's political life in turmoil ignited also by newspapers' aggressive headlines.



"State bandits"
State bandits” reads Berlusconi's family newspaper Il Giornale (“The Newspaper”) today's headline with a list of evidence items (34 trials, 0 definitive sentences, and so on), showing how ballistic the former prime minister intends to go in his fighting the 20 Year's War against the Italian judiciary, which is guilty of having anticipated the appeal hearings, (allegedly) in order to avoid any risk of statute of limitations that might influence some of the charges in September.

Mr Berlusconi's entourage – amongst them the newspaper's editor Allesandro Sallusti - obviously counted on the fact that the media tycoon would by saved by the bell (namely the statue of limitation).

Tuesday 25 June 2013

The incoming judicial issues of Mr Berlusconi


Tue, 25 June 2013. As Silvio Berlusconi is sentenced to seven years in jail and ban from holding public office prison (for having had sex with a under-age prostitute and having tried to deceive a bunch of policemen about her identity, with a prank phone call) the Italian judiciary is keeping by five more judicial trials for the former PM of Italy. Not all of them involving women.

One of the rare occasions when Silvio Berlusconi showed up in court

Silvio Berlusconi has barely time to swallow the heavy sentence given by Milan's magistrates (they took seriously prosecutor's theory about Silvio being the head of a prostitution ring, didn't they?), that he will need a bit of luck and concentration to dodge the incoming threats from the judiciary, a gymkhana (since Silvio reckon it's a war, he might prefer to call a campaign) of proceedings starting already... tomorrow!

Monday 24 June 2013

Berlusconi's sex trial ends with a seven years sentence in prison for the ex-PM


Mon, 24 June 2013. Berlusconi found guilty of having abused power and had sex with a under-age prostitute, sentenced to seven years in jail.

After more than seven hours of deliberation, today Milan's court judges sentenced to seven years in jail the 76-year old former prime minister of Italy guilty of a couple of charges related to the Rubygate (the inquiry about the Moroccan belly dancer - and allegedly whore - Karima El Mahroug ).


7-year jail sentence for Mr Berlusconi
The sentence involves a ban from holding public office for life. All this pending the outcome of an appeal.

Saturday 8 June 2013

Berlusconi, how easy is to mistake “true love” for “sex for money”?

Friday, 7 June, 2013. At the Ruby 2 trial Nicole Minetti denies having had “sex for money” and reveals that it was “true love” if she was hosted by Silvio Berlusconi at his villa(s), and reveals unprecedented “media aggression followed by a wave of scorn” against her.

Nicole Minetti in court 
On 31 May prosecutors hinted that Nicole Minetti had being “performing sexual acts for money” in Silvio Berlusconi's villa(s), apparently with the former prime minister, during a trial – dubbed Ruby 2, from the name of the main character involved and because the Ruby #1 is the trial against Silvio himself – where Nicole is a defendant, together with Lele Mora and Emilio Fede.

Nicole Minetti is charged with “induction into prostitution”, as a organiser of bunga-bunga parties and recruiter of prostitutes (among them under-age belly dancer Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby the Heartstealer, nickname that dubbed the related proceedings).

Proceedings are slowed down by many obstacles, Karima El Mahroug numerous lies didn't help much. but proceedings are always slow in Italy, aren't they?

Prosecution asked for a 7-year sentence.

Friday 31 May 2013

Berlusconi, Ruby, Nicole, paid sex, girls and women, testing and tasting: the prosecutors speak their mind

Friday, 31 May, 2013. During the closing arguments of the Ruby case, prosecutors asked for 7-year sentences for any of the Silvio Berlusconi 's friends involved in bunga-bunga parties and related sex scandal, for different reasons, as they illustrated.

Nicole Minetti in tribunal, during a trial
Nicole Minetti seems to say: “Sex for money? Me? 
Are you serious?”
Nicole Minetti, former regional councillor, showgirl and model (and - according to her - former girlfriend of Silvio Berlusconi), apart for having fulfilled tasks of “intermediation” in the fixing of the bunga-bunga parties, had an active role by “performing sexual acts for money”, according to prosecutor Antonio Sangermano, while women-connoisseurs “associates” Dario Gabriele “Lele” Mora and Emilio Fede “tested – or tasted - the pleasantness of the girls, checked their social-relational skills and then led into the circuit of the evenings” at Berlusconi's villa in Arcore.

They all deserve a reclusion of 7 years, according to the Public Prosecutor.

Monday 13 May 2013

Berlusconi and the twenty years' war against the judges



Sun, 12 May, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset broadcaster Canale 5 airs a two-hour documentary to demonstrate prosecutors sex-related charges against the former prime minister are groundless (at least to the public opinion), as a last act of a counteroffensive against the Italian judiciary.


Ruby Heartstealer in a nightclub
All but chaste
“The twenty years' war” is the title of a two-hour documentary, that was aired on Sunday, the day before the prosecutor's closing arguments would be declared at the Rubygate sex scandal trial (the request would be a 6-year sentence), where Silvio Berlusconi is accused of abuse of power and having paid the then-minor Karima El-Mahroug (aka Ruby Heartstealer, Ruby Rubacuori in Italian) for sex

Silvio Berlusconi's stand is that the dinners where young girls and women were invited (some of them were just kept at hand in the bunga-bunga army) were pretty “normal soirées” and that his guests “kept their cloths on”. Nicole Minetti was not an organiser (was she his grilfriend at that time, as she declared?). Prosecution thinks he has been running a prostitution ring. So far they have been finding it difficult to reconcile the two different positions.

Thursday 11 April 2013

Berlusconi had sex with at least two teenagers (according to Noemi Letizia's former agent)


Noemi Letizia had a "consensual intercourse"
with Silvio Berlusconi, when she was
a minor (according to Chiesa Soprani)

Thu, 11 April, 2013. Francesco Chiesa Soprani, former agent of Silvio Berlusconi's protégé Naomi Letizia, says in an interview that the former prime minister had sex with the girl when she was under-age.

As some of you might remember, Silvio Berlusconi's second wife Veronica Lario decided to reveal to the public that his husband was “a sick man in need of help“ because of his “uncontrollable” yearning for women (and – at the same time - decided to start separation proceedings) when the former prime minister of Italy attended to young model Noemi Letizia's 18th birthday party in Naples.

Though the story was never forgot, nobody knew exactly until what extent the relationship between a minor girl and a elderly man she called “papi” (when Noemi got 18, Silvio was 73) was inappropriate.

Friday 22 March 2013

Berlusconi leaves his worries behind...


Fri, 22 March, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi is portrayed as a driver of a Ford Figo who “leaves his worries behind”, symbolised by Ruby the Heartstealer, Francesca Pascale and Nicole Minetti tied up and gagged in the boot of the car.


Ford Figo Indian advert with Silvio Berlusconi, belly dancer Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby the Heart Breaker, Silvio's girlfriend Francesca Pascale and (former) sweetheart Nicole Minetti
The infamous advert created for Ford India,
with Karima-Ruby, Francesca and Nicole
A drawing appearing on the Ford Figo's ad by Ford India Ltd shows three curvaceous women – namely belly dancer Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby the Heart Breaker, Silvio Berlusconi's girlfriend Francesca Pascale and (former) sweetheart Nicole Minettihands a feet tied, muzzled, in the rear booth of a red car, whilst the former Italian prime minister is sitting in front of the vehicle, at the wheel, smiling and showing the V sign.

«Leave your worries behind with Figo's extra-large boot» reads the claim on the bottom of the page, obviously referring to Silvio's headaches about bunga-bunga parties, sex scandal trials, and other matters related to women.

Not exactly something that Berlusconi would find funny – we presume – and not exactly something in a good taste – we might say – considering the poor record of India in terms of behaviour of men towards women.

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Has Silvio Berlusconi been running a “prostitution ring”?


Monday, 4 March, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi has been running a prostitution ring, according to prosecutors' final arguments in the last episode of the Rubygate sex scandal related proceedings.


Karima El-Mahroug, aka Ruby the Heart Stealer, showing her belly
Karima El-Mahroug, aka Ruby the Heart Stealer
Silvio Berlusconi is on trial – he managed to postpone the proceeding, due to the general elections, but now he is running out of excuses... -, since he is accused of soliciting an under-age prostitute (the Moroccan Karima el-Mahroug, also known as Ruby Rubacuori i.e. Ruby Heart Stealer) and for abuse of power, for having managed to free the aforementioned Ruby Heart Stealer from the strong arm of the law, and ushered her into the hands of Milan's municipality's councillor (party-organizer and part-time bikini-modelNicole Minetti, by illicit means (amongst them he apparently said to the police that Karima-Ruby - apparently - was the granddaughter of Egypt's former dictator Hosni Mubarak).

Silvio Berlusconi heading to the court
Silvio Berlusconi heading to the court
By doing this, Silvio – who at the time was Italy's prime minister – recruited the Moroccan belly-dancer (and alleged call girl) into the bunga-bunga army, a bunch of young women - the bunga-bunga girls - to be used for entertainment during parties in his villa in Arcore. The women used to get a bed where to sleep, 2,500 euro a month ($3,250 or £2,160), plus gifts and presents in case of birthdays or name days.

The prosecutor – Antonio Sangermano – said that Karima El-Mahroug (who was 17, when first attended a so-called bunga-bunga party) was "an integral part" of a "complex prostitution ring". In the next days the prosecutors will publish the requested sentence, the defence will reply on 11 March, and on 18 March the trail will end with a verdict.

All this is hardly likely to help the difficult relationship between the former premier of Italy and the Italian Judiciary, which – according to Silvio Berlusconi – is «more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia,».

Saturday 22 December 2012

Silvio Berlusconi and the socks of the judges



Thursday, December 20, 2012. Silvio Berlusconi-s owned gossip magazine attempts to delegitimize a magistrate looking into sex-scandal trial by denigrate her socks. It's not the first time they resort to this extreme measure, Italian judges should pay more attention to the colour of their socks, experts say.


Ilda Boccassini doing work
The prosecutor in charge of the Rubygate – a case in which Silvio Berlusconi is indicted for having given money to under-age Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) – has appeared on a photo shoot on Berlusconi's Mondadori-owned “Chi” weekly magazine, a gossip newspaper.

Judge Ilda Boccassini is an old enemy of Berlusconi's, since she took over the place of Antonio Di Pietro, back in 1994, in the “Mani pulite” (“Clean hands”) investigation.

Silvio and Ilda met up in several occasions, since.

Ilda Boccassini doing shopping

The gossip weekly portrays the judge as she goes shopping in the centre of Milan, adding captions in order to deride the magistrate. A list of her cloths is published, where “multi-coloured striped wool socks”, costing 21 euro, are exhibited and undrlined in order – somehow – to belittle the judge. Another photo shows Ilda Boccassini dropping the butt of a cigarette to the ground. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and Rai3 news service accused the media outlet of "hounding" the judge.

A similar technique was used by Canale5 broadcaster staff in 2009, when they hounded judge Raimondo Mesiano, who ordered to Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest to pay 750 million euro (£612m) to Carlo De Benedetti's – arch-enemy of The Knight – CIR, as a compensation in the frame of the Lodo Mondadori, a battle between the two Italian entrepreneurs following the acquisition of publisher Arnoldo Mondadori Editore by Fininvest. Mr Mesiano was followed by the broadcaster's men, his turquoise-coloured socks were exposed as a major offence.

Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) and Alfonso Signorini
Ruby rebuilding her virginity with Chi's Alfonso Signorini
By the way, the weekly magazine we started this post with is owned by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA (company chaired by Silvio's daughter, Maria Elvira Berlusconi, commonly known as Marina Berlusconi). The paper is also known for having published topless photos of Kate Middleton earlier this year, and a picture of prnicess Diana, taken as she was dying, after a car accident on 31 August 1997. The Director of “Chi”, Alfonso Signorini, was in charge also when Mediaset (on Canale 5's Kalispéra TV show) tried to prove that Ruby the Heart Stealer was – in reality – a kind of vocational nun, not a prostitute.


Obviously Silvio thinks that the best defence is a good offence.

I calzini di Ilda Boccassini.
Socks on the right...


Thursday 20 December 2012

Silvio Berlusconi and his friend Bruno Vespa


Tuesday, December 18, 2012. Invited to Italian state TV talk show “Porta a Porta” (“Door to Door”) by anchorman and friend Bruno Vespa, Silvio Berlusconi holds electoral an electoral speech and admits that if the election will be held in February, his chances to win are pretty dim.



Foto Mario Monti e Silvio Berlusconi su schermo Porta a Porta
"After Monti it's my turn"
You need... me” begins Silvio Berlusconi on the television screen, participating to Porta a Porta (Door to Door) one of the most viewed TV shows on state owned Rai1, after host Bruno Vespa showed a footage of the previous night television programme (still  on Rai1), where Oscar-winner Italian actor Roberto Benigni joked about the fact that it's the sixth time that the tycoon runs for office (“the seventh time he shall rest” mocked Benigni).

The President and the Comedian
RobertoBenigni (mis)used a cultural television programme to attack the former Italian prime minister, who – in return – reckons legitimate to (mis)use a talk show to talk – alone, with no cross-examination, the host of the programme is a friend - about what he is going to do (or – more exactly – about what Italians want him to do).

"After Monti, it's my turn again" says Berlusconi's manifesto, projected by Bruno Vespa's staff. This is how things go in Italy, nowadays.

“You need me and [...] I don't refrain [...] to render the assistance to those in need” the former Italian prime minister continued, as the conversation between the politician and business man and the journalist went on following the usual politician-stooge pattern.

"Don't vote for small parties" warns the People of Liberty's president, founder and main financial backer, look for someone who "has got plenty of common sense", and than enunciates "I have been a winning entrepreneur, in every sector, I have built model cities, worked in the building, publishing and broadcasting industry".

A well organised electoral speech.


Video from our YouTube Channel: Berluschannel

In reality the only electoral promise coming from Berlusconi is the abolition of a municipal tax that his government introduced back in 2011 (Decree nr. 23, 14 March 2011), the infamous IMU (“Imposta municipale propria”, a kind of Council Tax) in order to cover the expenses left without funds by the repeal of the previous tax on real proprieties “Imposta comunale sugli immobili” (ICI, “Municipal Propriety Tax”).

Berlusconi said that he can aim to get the 40 per cent of the votes, if he gets enough time on TV to explain his reasons (pardon: his reason) his to the Italians.

Bunga-bunga queen Ruby Rubacuori, the Heart Stealer (Moroccan stripper Karima El Mahroug)
Gotcha!
What is the alternative to Berlusconi? According to Berlusconi it's a social civil war, just like it (almost) happened in Greece.

But in the meantime another clock is ticking: a court set February 4, 2013 as the day for final hearing and judgement of the Rubygate proceedings. In the trial Silvio Berlusconi is indicted of having paid for sex an under-age prostitute known as “Ruby the Heart-Stealer” (the real name is Karima El Mahroug) at his “bunga bunga” parties, to which Moroccan belly-dancer Karima and droves of other women were invited. If he gets a conviction, it might influence his run for office.

Run Silvio, run! I mean: slow down, Silvio, slow down... 

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Silvio Berlusconi and the missing key witness



Monday, December 10, 2012. Key defence witness Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) does not show up in court for Silvio Berlusconi's sex-related Rubygate trial. It turns out she's in Mexico.

Are you trying to delay the proceedings? Oh, not at all!
Most probably Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) just forgot the court date (Silvio Berlusconi's trial, he is accused of having paid for her sexual services, as under-age prostitute) when she decided to travel to Mexico, with her boyfriend and one-year-old daughter Sofia Aida.

That's why she was not there last Monday, without notifying her attorney or sending any documentation to justify the absence from the sex-scandal trialQuite remarkably, Berlusconi's lawyers did not bother to talk to her, just to make sure they'd be on the same page in the court, just to realise she was somewhere else.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Berlusconi and the bunga bunga army

Friday, November 9, 2012. During the so-called Ruby-trial, it turns out that Silvio Berlusconi is still maintaining girls involved in (and witnesses of) the sex scandal.

Arisleida Espinosa aka Aris born 5 March 1989 in Santo Domingo
Aris Espinosa
According to prosecutors, the 42 girls – among them the famous Ruby the Heartstealer (stage name of Karima El Mahroug), Elisa Toti, Aris Espinoza, Ioana Visan, Marysthell Polanco and Eleonora De Vivo – were recruited by Nicole Minetti and all live in a condominium in Milano 2 residential zone (address in 65 Via Olgettina, that's way the young females are also known as "le olgettine"), they obviously are habitués of the bunga-bunga parties (apart from being witnesses in a proceeding against Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-related trial), and they are all receiving around 2,500 euros monthly (that is £2,000 or $3,200), a pretty nice income in today's Italy.

Elisa Toti admitted also receiving a Mini car as a gift and help in the purchase of a house (in terms of cash and guarantee).

Friday 8 April 2011

Silvio Berlusconi and the eagerly awaited sex-scandal trial

Wednesday, April 6 2011. The first session of the Silvio Berlusconi's Rubygate trial has been adjourned, after 15 minutes.

Do you know how trials work in Italy? The so-called “Rubygate” proceedings are a good example of that. Silvio Berlusconi is accused of having paid an under-age prostitute for her services, namely Karima El Mahroug, aka Ruby Rubacuori (Italian for "Ruby Heartstealer", the nom de guerre of the girl). Other women were believed to have received money for the same reason, but they were adults, and that's not a crime in Italy (I mean: it's not a crime to give money in exchange for sex to women above 18).


Tribunale di Milano
Court and press

The first hearings were due for on 6 April. The build-up was huge. An extensive international press coverage was set-up. Outside of the fascist-era court building in Milan an assemblage people gathered: curious folks, Berlusconi tireless haters and fans.