(ANSA) - Milan, November 5 - A line-up of Italian VIPs - a
famed Argentinian-born showgirl, a prominent member of
parliament, and the chairman of the Berlusconi-controlled Medusa
film company - testified on Monday for the defense in the trial
of Italian ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi for alleged sex with an
underage prostitute and alleged abuse of power.
Berlusconi denies paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug, a
Moroccan runaway and belly dancer also known as Ruby, before she
turned 18.
Prosecutors charge that Berlusconi not only paid for sex with El Mahroug, but also with other women at a series of sex-centered parties held in his private residences.
Girls danced and sang at Berlusconi's parties, but did not expose their breasts or buttocks, Medusa Chairman Carlo Rossella testified in court on Monday. Rossella's account contradicted previous witness testimony, particularly regarding a party he said he attended on September 19, 2010. According to Rossella, women sang "Thank God there's Berlusconi" and South American songs.
He said they also danced in a chain around the table.
However, contrary to the testimony last April of a young woman guest named Melania Tumini, Rossella said he saw neither nudity nor minors at the party. "Berlusconi sang.
He spoke about his life and the young women congratulated him.
I never saw them behaving sexually, neither toward Berlusconi nor Emilio Fede," said Rossella, making reference to a television news anchorman and close friend of Berlusconi's on trial separately on charges of of procuring prostitutes. Magistrate Ilda Boccassini noted in court that a wiretap transcript taken of a young woman's cellphone conversation gave an opposing reconstruction of events that evening.
Another witness called by the defense on Monday was Daniela Santanche', a member of parliament with Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party and close friend of billionaire ex-Formula One boss Flavio Briatore. Santanche' "never saw young women at (Berlusconi villa at) Arcore" and never encountered El Mahroug at Berlusconi's home, she said. "I have known Berlusconi for 15 years, and I have visited his home in Arcore both for political questions and for convivial lunches," Santanche' explained.
The MP called the media's treatment of the trial "a farce" after giving her testimony.
"Italy has so many other problems, and this trial hurts me as an Italian, also because all of those things that they say about this trial are a farce," Santanche' declared.
Photographers and cameramen at the courthouse mobbed showgirl Belen Rodriguez, known in Italy for her sexy appearances on advertising and television shows, who was also called to testify. Rodriguez denied to journalists that she had ever spent the night with Berlusconi.
She told the court that she had never gone to Berlusconi's villa in Arcore, and had only been to his villa in Sardinia once in 2007. The next hearing will be Monday, November 12.
Berlusconi's defense lawyer Niccolo' Ghedini has called ex-minister of education Maria Stella Gelmini and former equal opportunities minister Mara Carfagna to testify. photo: Belen Rodriguez
Prosecutors charge that Berlusconi not only paid for sex with El Mahroug, but also with other women at a series of sex-centered parties held in his private residences.
Girls danced and sang at Berlusconi's parties, but did not expose their breasts or buttocks, Medusa Chairman Carlo Rossella testified in court on Monday. Rossella's account contradicted previous witness testimony, particularly regarding a party he said he attended on September 19, 2010. According to Rossella, women sang "Thank God there's Berlusconi" and South American songs.
He said they also danced in a chain around the table.
However, contrary to the testimony last April of a young woman guest named Melania Tumini, Rossella said he saw neither nudity nor minors at the party. "Berlusconi sang.
He spoke about his life and the young women congratulated him.
I never saw them behaving sexually, neither toward Berlusconi nor Emilio Fede," said Rossella, making reference to a television news anchorman and close friend of Berlusconi's on trial separately on charges of of procuring prostitutes. Magistrate Ilda Boccassini noted in court that a wiretap transcript taken of a young woman's cellphone conversation gave an opposing reconstruction of events that evening.
Another witness called by the defense on Monday was Daniela Santanche', a member of parliament with Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party and close friend of billionaire ex-Formula One boss Flavio Briatore. Santanche' "never saw young women at (Berlusconi villa at) Arcore" and never encountered El Mahroug at Berlusconi's home, she said. "I have known Berlusconi for 15 years, and I have visited his home in Arcore both for political questions and for convivial lunches," Santanche' explained.
The MP called the media's treatment of the trial "a farce" after giving her testimony.
"Italy has so many other problems, and this trial hurts me as an Italian, also because all of those things that they say about this trial are a farce," Santanche' declared.
Photographers and cameramen at the courthouse mobbed showgirl Belen Rodriguez, known in Italy for her sexy appearances on advertising and television shows, who was also called to testify. Rodriguez denied to journalists that she had ever spent the night with Berlusconi.
She told the court that she had never gone to Berlusconi's villa in Arcore, and had only been to his villa in Sardinia once in 2007. The next hearing will be Monday, November 12.
Berlusconi's defense lawyer Niccolo' Ghedini has called ex-minister of education Maria Stella Gelmini and former equal opportunities minister Mara Carfagna to testify. photo: Belen Rodriguez
