Berlusconi testifies on party woman (3)

(ANSA) - Milan, February 23 - Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday testified to prosecutors in a case of alleged extortion by one of the women who attended his so-called bunga bunga sex parties, Giovanna Rigato. She is suspected of demanding one million euros in exchange for keeping mum with the media and prosecutors about the true nature of what Berlusconi maintained were "elegant evenings". On January 30 the three-time former premier and media magnate was indicted for allegedly paying several young women to remain silent on the real nature of the parties in the so-called Ruby III case. "Now that I have returned to centre stage they have started hitting me again," said Berlusconi, head of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party. The billionaire mogul said that, even though the first Ruby case ended in his acquittal, "many young women were damaged by the case and I felt obliged to help them out". The trial begins April 5.
    Berlusconi is accused of paying money to at least 13 young women between April-June 2015 and November 2016 to allegedly testify that the parties were decorous and stylish affairs.
    The FI leader is accused of continuing to bribe the women with payments of up to 15,000 euros at a time, according to the prosecution, on the basis of statements by Berlusconi's accountant Giuseppe Spinelli.
    A preliminary hearings judge on October 19 indicted former exotic dancer Karima El Mahroug - stage name Ruby Heartstealer - and 22 others for corruption and perjury in the case.
    That trial began on January 11.
    The case against Berlusconi is being dealt with separately after he was unable to attend an October hearing on the grounds that he was in the United States for a check-up after undergoing heart surgery earlier in 2016.
    In the first trial linked to the case, Berlusconi was convicted of paying Ruby for sex while she was a minor, but was acquitted on appeal over lack of evidence that he knew she was under 18 at the time.