Court to determine ex-PM Berlusconi’s sex trial validity

PanARMENIAN.Net - Italy's Constitutional Court was set Tuesday, February 14 to hold a public hearing on the judicial validity of a trial in which former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is charged with paying an underage dancer for sex, M&C reported, quoting DPA.

Following the hearing, the court, which is based in Rome, is set to rule on whether magistrates presiding over the trial against Berlusconi are qualified to do so.

A ruling was expected later Tuesday or Wednesday, Italian media reports said.

The competency of the magistrates and the prosecutors in the trial against Berlusconi which began in Milan in April, is being challenged by his lawyers and Italy's lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, of which the former premier is a member and where his conservatives have a majority.

They argue that Berlusconi should be tried by a special tribunal for top public officials since alleged offences where committed in 2010 when Berlusconi was still in office.

In the trial, prosecutors also accuse Berlusconi of having abused his then position as premier to cover up his liaison with the dancer, Karima El Mahroug, who at the time was 17 and thus underage in terms of Italy's prostitution laws.