'Unwell' Berlusconi skips Ruby Ter hearing

(ANSA) - MILANO, 30 NOV - An "unwell" former premier and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi on Monday missed a hearing of a trial for allegedly bribing witnesses to lie about his alleged bunga bunga sex parties, his lawyer said.
    The lawyer said the former three-time premier and centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party leader had "taken a turn for the worse" after appearing to have made a full recovery from a bout of COVID.
    Berlusconi's doctors have told him to stay home and rest up, the lawyer said.
    Berlusconi filed a 'legitimate impediment' plea to miss the last hearing in mid-October of the Ruby Ter trial, so-called because it si the third trial to stem from the case of a teenage Moroccan runaway, nightclub dancer and prostitute named Ruby Heartstealer.
    Berlusconi, 84, was acquitted of paying for sex with her while she was underage after a court found he could not have known how old she was.
    Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, was allegedly paid by Berlusconi to deny prosecutors' claims the parties were orgies where sex was paid for.
    But she is not among the 29 defendants in the current trial which include Berlusconi and several young women he allegedly bribed to say the parties were innocent affairs. (ANSA).