Senate justice committee chair Giulia Bongiorno has said that a probe into the possible politicised use of the justice system against former premier Silvio Berlusconi could be warranted, especially in light of the 'Palamara affair' of cronyism and corruption in Italy's politicised judiciary.
Bongiorno, media magnate Berlusconi’s former defence minister and one of Italy's top lawyers, made these statements on Thursday, after the three-time ex-premier was acquitted in one strand of the 'Ruby #3' bunga bunga witness suborning case.
On Thursday night Berlusconi, 85, was acquitted of bribing musician and friend Mariano Apicella to lie, allegedly like other defendants in other strands of the case, about the true nature of what the billionaire has insisted were “elegant soirées”.
On Friday, a leading member of Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, House Deputy Speaker Giorgio Mulé, called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry to be set up to weigh whether, and how much, politically motivated prosecutors persecuted Berlusconi in his many trials, something which he has always maintained.
Over three decades in the political sphere, the mogul has been on trial for charges ranging from buying judges and senators, to paying for sex with a minor named Ruby, but has only once been convicted, of tax evasion, a conviction that kept him out of the Italian parliament from 2013 until the recent general election.
Berlusconi is still on trial for allegedly bribing other bunga bunga witnesses in the case related to teen Moroccan runaway and exotic dancer Ruby Heartstealer, whose real name is Karima El Mahrough.
The ex-premier was eventually cleared of paying her for sex when she was underage, after judges found he could not have known she was only 17.
During the case, Berlusconi got his parliamentary majority to back his claim that Ruby was late Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak's niece.
