Witness tells of 'incriminating' Berlusconi sex tape
'Ruby could have taken revenge'
Monday, 16 April 2012
16 April, 17:42
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(ANSA) - Milan, Aril 16 - A new witness told a Milan court Monday she had heard that Karima 'Ruby' El Mahroug, the underage Moroccan-born runaway accused of taking money for sex with Silvio Berlusconi, has compromising photographs and videos of the former premier. "(Ruby) could have taken revenge," said Imane Fadil, a Morroccan model who says she refused offers to attend Berlusconi's alleged 'bunga bunga' sex parties. Fadil said in a deposition that Barbara Faggioli, another guest at Berlusconi's home, told her that Ruby "had very compromising videos and photos of the parties". Berlusconi is currently on trial for allegedly paying for sex with Ruby after several of the parties at his villa at Arcore outside Milan and allegedly coercing police into releasing her after an unrelated theft claim to hush up the fact. Fadil, who is listed as an injured party in a separate case involving three people who allegedly provided Berlusconi with prostitutes, is the first witness to testify that she turned down offers to participate in the parties. She told the court she first heard of Ruby two years ago from Faggioli, who "was nervous about this girl who could get Berlusconi and all of us in trouble". Fadil said that Berlusconi personally offered her an envelope with four 500-euro notes inside to "stay over" the first time she visited his villa in Arcore north of Milan. "There were specific handouts for girls who stayed the night. They got the most. They did everything they could to stay," she said. Fadil recalled one evening in which Faggioli allegedly engaged in a strip-tease while dressed as a nun along with Nicole Minetti, Berlusconi's former dental hygienist who is now a Lombardy regional councillor for his People of Freedom (PdL) party and is one of the three people accused of supplying the premier with prostitutes. "Minetti organized the evenings," said Fadil, who described the performance as a sort of "sexy dance in the bunga-bunga room," with Minetti and Faggioli both dressed in "black habits with a white cross on the headdress". The other two accused of supplying prostitutes are bankrupt talent scout Lele Mora and long-time Berlusconi news anchor Emilio Fede, a close friend of the media magnate's.
Fadil, who said she did not come forward sooner out of fear, said Fede told her to keep quiet. "Fede told me that I could not speak about what I had seen at Arcore. He told me 'I'll take care of it'," she said. Fadil also testified that she was "pressured" to go back to Arcore as recently as May and June of last year, after the current trial of the former premier had begun. "A man met me close to my home to give me an untraceable telephone in order to organize meetings in Arcore, but I didn't want to," she said. Prosecutors say Berlusconi had sex with 33 prostitutes at his villa over the course of several evenings. Berlusconi, who says his parties were innocent and "elegant" affairs, has stressed that both he and Ruby deny having sex, and has quipped "33 women in two months is too many even for someone who likes pretty girls, like me".
He claims to be the victim of biased prosecutors who have allegedly been conducting a witch-hunt against him since he entered politics in 1994.
The charge of having sex with an underage prostitute carries a jail term of up to three years, and abuse of office 12 years.
The Ruby trial, which opened last April , is expected to run for years, with dozens of witnesses called by the prosecution and defence including George Clooney and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
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