Italian prime minister should be denied preliminary hearing, prosecutors urge, because of 'obviousness of evidence'

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

An enraged Silvio Berlusconi has lashed out at the Milan prosecutors who have asked for him to be put on trial immediately, charged with sex-related offences.

At a press conference in Rome, Italy's prime minister described them as subversive and vowed to take legal action against the Italian state.

"It's a disgrace. It's disgusting," said Berlusconi. "I'm sorry that we have offended the dignity of, and thrown mud at, the country. I wonder who is going to pay for this activity whose only aim is subversive."

He then indicated that it would be the taxpayer who paid because "I shall attempt to sue the state."

Berlusconi said: "I'm not worried about myself. I'm a rich gentleman who can go on to setting up hospitals for children around the world, as I have always wanted to."

The city's chief prosecutor, Edmondo Bruti Liberati, said on Wednesday that Italy's prime minister should go into the dock without a preliminary hearing because of the "obviousness of the evidence" against him.

Berlusconi, who denies any wrongdoing, is accused of paying an underage prostitute and then committing the offence under Italian law of abusing his official position to cover up his alleged crime.

In an investigation lasting more than eight months, police and prosecutors amassed hundreds of pages of evidence intended to show the prime minister invited dozens of women, including prostitutes, to his mansion near Milan for dinners that degenerated into debauches.

Among his guests was a young Moroccan runaway, Karima el-Mahroug, who adopted the nickname Ruby Heartstealer. The prosecutors maintain she was under 18 years old at the time, the minimum age for prostitution.

Berlusconi's lawyers are expected to argue that she is older than indicated on official documents.

Last May, El-Mahroug was taken to a Milan police station accused of theft. But instead of being returned to care, she was released to a regional parliamentarian from Berlusconi's party who has since been placed under investigation, suspected of aiding and abetting prostitution.

Normally, decisions on whether to indict a suspect accused of paying a juvenile prostitute are taken by a judge after a preliminary hearing. But Bruti Liberati said his office had decided to follow a practice already established in Milan and elsewhere of applying the same, fast-track procedure to both alleged offences in cases where they were related and one qualified for direct indictment of the accused.

The decision was taken despite a warning from Berlusconi's lawyers that they would argue it was unconstitutional.