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 trial. Quite 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.

They simply did not know it, and they asked the police to search all over the country, in order to find her and listen to her testimony on December 17.

Berlusconi denies having had sex with Karima-Ruby (and having had sex for money with any women at all), a member of the so-called Bunga Bunga Army (BBA), a discotheque's PR, a model, and - allegedly - a prostitute.

Prosecutor Ilda “The Red” Boccassini (who said “I know very well the defendant Berlusconi”, she and the Italian tycoon are fighting a duel since years) has figured out that the former PM's defence is just aiming to delay the verdict until after February elections, triggered by announced Mario Monti's resignation, triggered by withdrawal of the support to his government from Berlusconi's People of Liberty party.

Oh, Mexico ♫ , the sun's so hot I forgot to go home ♪

Silvio Berlusconi decided to run for a fourth term as Italy's Prime Minister, for the sake of Italians, after having said that he would not do it, for the sake of Italians.

Niccolò Ghedini, Berlusconi's attorney, fended off accusations as defamatory: “this is intolerable, this is a downright aggression to the defence!” he exclaimed. Berlusconi was indicted to stand trial on 15 January 2011.

The Prosecutor's request that Ruby el-Mahroug be wiped from the list of witnesses – as a fugitive, in lack of documents of any kind justifying her absence – was not accepted by the judge head of the board.

Finally, after the turmoil spread all over the Italian media, Paola Boccardi – Karima's layer –  informed the concerned figures about her defendant whereabouts. She's in Mexico and she will be back in January.

Berlusconi's defence has called for 80 witnesses in favour of the defendant (amongst the others star actor George Clooney and Real Madrid's footballer Cristiano Ronaldo) it might prove difficult to find their whereabouts, until the elections, ad the holidays approach.