The Italian government withdraws as a private prosecution in the ‘Ruby case’ investigating Berlusconi

13 Feb. () –

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has announced this Monday that she has ordered the State Attorney’s Office to withdraw as an accusation of the so-called ‘Ruby case’, the investigation opened against the conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi for his private parties in which he allegedly held sexual relations with underage prostitutes.

Meloni has published a press release in which he highlights that the participation of the State Attorney dates back to 2017 when the Government of Paolo Gentiloni made the “political” decision to get involved in this trial.

The note highlights that the new government formed in October 2022 “direct expression of the popular will” has decided to “re-evaluate” the original decision. “This seems all the more appropriate in light of the acquittals that first the Court of Appeal of Milan with a judgment of July 2014, which became irrevocable, and then the Court of Rome with a judgment of November 2022 ruled in favor. of Senator Berlusconi in segments of this same case”, he argues.

Meloni’s announcement coincides with the good results achieved this Sunday by the parties that support Meloni in government, including Forza Italia, a formation led by Berlusconi, in the regional elections of Lazio and Lombardy.

The ‘Ruby’ case is named after the alias used by the dancer Karima el Mahroug, who according to the Prosecutor’s Office was 17 years old when she attended these parties and had sexual relations with Berlusconi in exchange for money and other favors. The process has given rise to three parallel trials, two of which have been closed with the billionaire’s acquittal.

The case was opened after the arrest in Milan of El Mahroug for a robbery on May 28, 2010. The then Prime Minister Berlusconi assured that she was a niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and managed her release. A few days later she was hospitalized after an argument with the prostitute Michelle Conceicao and later she was granted protection as a protected witness.