Berlusconi faces trial for underage hooker
ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will go on trial for allegedly paying an underage hooker for sex and abuse of power, a judge ruled today.
Judge Cristina Di Censa fast-tracked the case and fixed the date for the first hearing for April 6 in Milan.
Sleaze-plagued Berlusconi - who faced calls to quit from a million women in street protests on Sunday - will be tried by three female judges.
The embattled politician`s lawyers said on hearing the news of the trial: "We didn`t expect anything else."
Di Censa upheld requests by Milan magistrates to fast-track the trial of the lothario leader, 74, on allegations he paid for sex with Morrocan belly dancer Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby Heartstealer.
He is said to have cavorted with topless beauties in police and nurse uniforms at infamous Bunga Bunga bashes at his palatial home near Milan.
Evidence leaked from the probe suggests he paid for sex with "Ruby" when she was 17 and abused his power by trying to cover up a police probe following her arrest for theft.
Using a prostitute is not a crime in Italy, but paying for sex with a girl under the age of 18 is illegal.
Berlusconi has denied ever paying for sex, and specifically denied paying for Ruby, who turned 18 last November.
He now faces three years in prison if found guilty of paying minors for sex, and from six to twelve years for abuse of power.
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