THE TRIAL of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi – who is accused of paying an underage girl for sex – is to be presided over by a panel of three judges, all of them female.
Bloomberg reports that the trial, which is to begin in Milan on April 6, will be presided over by Giulia Turri, Orsola De Cristoforo and Cermen D’Elia.
Though the selection of the judges is totally randomised, New York Magazine points out that the appointment comes just days after rallies across Italy when tens of thousands of women turned out to protest against Berlusconi’s conduct around women.
The nomination of the three female judges – all of whom have considerable legal experience, Bloomberg adds – has been welcomed by his opponents in Italy; the Guardian quotes the Catholic weekly paper Famiglia Cristiana as implying that women are Berlusconi’s ‘nemesis’.
A female MP from Berlusconi’s party added that the all-female bench was “the worst that could have been thought of.”
Berlusconi will not be required, however, to appear in court or give evidence to the trial, which comes at a poor time for the 74-year-old premier – amid falling approval ratings and narrow victories in crucial votes of confidence.
The premier is accused of paying to have sex with Karima El-Mahroug, a 17-year-old Moroccan girl known as ‘Ruby’, and separately intervening to have her released when she was arrested on an unrelated theft charge.
Berlusconi denies the sex charge, but admits to intervening in the police process in the latter case.
It is reported that Berlusconi is likely to seek the relocation of the trial from Milan to the capital Rome, where he may feel he has a chance of finding more hospitable judges for the trial.
Though the ageing prime minister has faced criminal charges before in respect of his media businesses, this case marks the first time he has been tried based on his personal conduct.
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