Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi Acquitted In 'Bunga-Bunga' Bribe Case

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and 28 others have been acquitted in the "bunga-bunga" bribe case.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

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New Delhi: Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been acquitted of the charges of bribing witnesses to lie about his notorious "bunga-bunga" parties, reported BBC. Apart from him, 28 other defendants have also been acquitted. 

Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby, who figured in an earlier Berlusconi case is among these 28 persons. Notably, according to BBC. Berlusconi was accused of paying young showgirls and others to give false testimony about the allegedly raunchy parties. 

Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni hailed his acquittal as "excellent news that puts an end to a long legal case that also had important repercussions on Italian political and institutional life". Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is a part of the Meloni-led coalition government. 

Cases On Berlusconi

The 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon has faced many court cases and won almost all of them.

In the Ruby case, the right-wing senator won an appeal against his conviction for paying for sex with an underage prostitute. However, both Ruby and Berlusconi denied having had sex. Ruby also denied having ever been a prostitute, reported BBC. 

The ex-Italian PM has denied any wrongdoing in his various court cases accusing prosecutors of pursuing a political vendetta against him. He insisted the parties, described by some as "orgies", were actually elegant dinners. 

Interestingly, there is only one case where Berlusconi’s trial ended in a conviction. According to the BBC report, he was convicted for tax fraud in 2013. Given his age, Italian justice treated him leniently and he proceeded for a year of community service at a care home near Milan. 

Berlusconi’s Political Career & Closeness With Russia

Silvio Berlusconi served as the prime minister of Italy three times between 1994 and 2011. He was accused of giving witnesses millions of euros in hush money in the "bunga-bunga" trial. However, he maintained that the money was given as compensation for reputational damage to people linked to the notorious parties. 

The report adds that he was temporarily barred from political office over his conviction for tax fraud, but won a seat in the Senate in the 2022 elections. 

As Italian leader, Berlusconi forged a close friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And this week, Berlusconi made controversial comments about the war in Ukraine which were condemned by Kyiv. 

As per the BBC report, Berlusconi said he would "never" have met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Meloni did last Thursday in Brussels on the sidelines of an EU summit. 

He added that if President Zelensky had stopped attacking the two Russian-backed regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, the war would not have happened. "So I judge very, very negatively the behaviour of this gentleman," Berlusconi said. 

Reacting to his comments, Zelensky aide Mykhailo Podolyak denounced Berlusconi as "a VIP agitator who is acting in the interests of Russian propaganda". "He is bartering away Italy's reputation for his friendship with Putin," he said. 

Italian PM Meloni, however, reaffirmed her support for Zelensky after Berlusconi's remarks.