Berlusconi Cleared Of Paying For Sex With Minor

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has been acquitted of paying for sex with a teenage prostitute by an appeals court.

The Milan court threw out a guilty verdict and seven-year jail sentence handed down by a lower tribunal last year.

Berlusconi had been accused of paying for sex with nightclub dancer Kharima El Mahroug - also known as Ruby the Heartstealer - when she was under 18 and then abusing his authority to get her released from police custody over theft accusations.

Prosecutors had relied on telephone wiretaps and statements made and then denied by Ms El Mahroug to build their case.

Berlusconi is currently serving community service at a facility for Alzheimer's patients after being convicted of tax fraud in a separate case.

Berlusconi's Forza Italia party welcomed the verdict

His lawyer Franco Coppi said the latest verdict went beyond his client's "rosiest expectations".

The four-time prime minister, who is still influential in Italian politics through his Forza Italia party, has always denied the allegations.

Simone Furlan of Forza Italia said in a statement: "Finally justice has been done.

"Now, let's all focus on good politics to relaunch Forza Italia, tightly knit around our great leader Silvio Berlusconi."

El Mahroug denied statements the prosecution had used to build their case

The acquittal could remove a potential threat to current prime minister Matteo Renzi's reform drive as it depends of an accord with the centre-right, including Forza Italia. 

Berlusconi is still on trial in another case where he is accused of bribing a senator to join his party and destabilise a centre-left government.

And prosecutors have requested he face trial on suspicion of paying off a pimp to provide false testimony in an investigation into prostitutes who attended parties at his residences in Milan and Rome.

Investigators have also been looking into whether he paid off witnesses in the Ruby trial to provide false testimony, although no charges have been formally levied.

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