Friday 20 May 2022 10:19 AM Silvio Berlusconi, 85, 'used women as sex slaves' at his infamous 'bunga bunga' ... trends now
Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi used women as 'sex slaves' when he threw his infamous wild 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa during his time in office, a court has heard.
Media tycoon Berlusconi, 85, who was premier three times and met Tony Blair several times as well as Russian president Vladimir Putin, was also said to have had sex with a teenage Moroccan belly dancer who was one of his guests.
He is currently on trial accused of paying off the girls with bribes so they would not inform authorities about the parties, which would have led to him being impeached and run out of office.
Berlusconi always called the parties 'innocent and elegant affairs' but witnesses have spoken of wild orgies with female guests dressing as nuns and performing erotic dances for Berlusconi and his cronies.
Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi used women as 'sex slaves' when he threw his infamous wild 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa during his time in office, a court has heard
Media tycoon Berlusconi, 85, who was premier three times and met Tony Blair several times as well as Russian president Vladimir Putin, was said to have had sex with a teenage Moroccan belly dancer Karima El-Mahroug, known as 'Ruby the Heartstealer' (pictured)
There was outrage in Italy last year at the prospect of the disgraced, scandal-ridden former PM becoming head of state - something which never materialised (pictured: protestors hold placards which read 'The Quirinale (Rome's presidential palace) is not for bunga bunga' in reference to Berlusconi's infamous sex parties
The stop-start trial has been going on in Milan for eight years with frequent halts to Berlusconi's ill health and the sudden death of one of the key witnesses, model Imane Fadil.
In 2013 Berlusconi had originally been found guilty of paying to have sex with Karima El-Mahroug, the Moroccan belly dancer, who was also known as Ruby The Heartstealer.
She was just 17 at the time of the parties and considered a minor under Italian law - Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in jail but the following year the verdict was overturned on appeal after his lawyers successfully argued there was no proof he had known of her real age.
His current trial stems from the 2013 trial after it was claimed witnesses had been paid off to keep silent.
In her summing up prosecutor Tiziana Siciliano said: 'The facts have been handed down to history by now, the serving premier was wont to systematically spice up his evening entertainments hosting in his home groups of odalisques, paid sex slaves.'
She added: 'Berlusconi is the former friend of Putin and now an old man. He was a sultan in his own harem. A very rich and powerful man, a prime minister who accompanied himself with friends like Putin, who is now bringing the world to its knees.
'He paid for the silence of witnesses with money, houses, cars and horses, every human commodity that you can imagine. What happened at the time at these parties was morally questionable and incredible.
'A horrible violence which our era looks at in
