Berlusconi Could Face Trial Soon on Sex Charges

LONDON -- Silvio Berlusconi's ongoing legal troubles just got a whole lot worse. On Wednesday, Italian prosecutors requested that the prime minister be put on trial immediately for sex-related offenses that carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

A judge now has five days to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to indict Berlusconi. If she decides that there is, she may consent to a fast-track trial. Otherwise, the process will slow down and involve the Italian parliament.

Berlusconi called the prosecutors' action "disgusting" and characterized it as an attempt to oust his government.

The formal investigation into the prime minister's private life began last month when prosecutors started looking into whether Berlusconi paid an underage prostitute -- Karima el-Mahroug (better know as Ruby Rubacuori) -- for sex last year at his mansion near Milan. She was 17 at the time, and paying for sex with a woman under 18 is a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

Prosecutors are also looking into whether Berlusconi abused his official position to cover up the alleged crime.

"Rubygate," as the scandal is now called, rose to international prominence last fall when it was learned that Berlusconi had secured the release of El Mahroug following her arrest for suspected theft. He allegedly told police that the Moroccan runaway was the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A conviction for abusing his office could bring a prison sentence of up to 12 years.

Prosecutors have requested an immediate indictment on both counts. Normally, a judge would hold a preliminary hearing in cases such as this before deciding on an indictment, but Chief Prosecutor Bruti Liberati said that Berlusconi should be tried without such a hearing because of the "obviousness of the evidence" against him.

Prosecutors say that where two charges are related and one qualifies for direct indictment of the accused, a fast-track procedure can be applied to both. But Berlusconi's lawyers argue that this motion is in violation of the Italian constitution, which designates that a special tribunal deal with offenses allegedly committed by public officials. They also dispute the age of the dancer (claiming she was 18), which would render one of the charges moot.

Over the past few weeks, the scandal has snowballed. Almost daily, there have been sordid accusations of drug use as well as women in policemen's uniforms stripping at the prime minister's mansions.

The Vatican -- long silent on the matter of the prime minister's unusually colorful sex life -- publicly rebuked him in veiled but pointed language. A top church official called for "all those who hold public responsibility . . . to be committed to a more robust morality, a sense of justice and lawfulness." Pope Benedict XVI himself told an audience of police officers in Rome that public officials must "rediscover their spiritual and moral roots."

Italian women seem particularly put off by the latest round of accusations. Some 73,000 people have signed a petition on the website of the left-wing newspaper L'Unità, urging Italian women to say "enough already" to Berlusconi. A nationwide protest promoted by women is scheduled for Feb. 13.

Berlusconi has denounced the prosecutors' actions as "a disgrace" and "disgusting."

"I'm sorry that we have offended the dignity of, and thrown mud at, the country," he said, adding, "I'm not worried about myself. I'm a rich gentleman who can go on to setting up hospitals for children around the world, as I have always wanted to."

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