A Moroccan woman at the heart of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s pay-for-sex trial has turned up in Mexico after missing a court date.
Karima el-Mahroug, known as Ruby, was reported to have notified her lawyer, Paola Boccardi, of her whereabouts after reading that Monday’s absence had sparked a minor uproar in court.
Ms Boccardi told the court yesterday that Ruby wasn’t expected back until next month.
Berlusconi is accused of paying Ruby, then 17, for sex during his notorious “bunga bunga” parties, and using his office to cover it up. Both deny the accusations.
Milan Prosecutor Ilda Boccassini accused Berlusconi’s defence of keeping Ruby away to delay a verdict until after February elections, in which Berlusconi is running for premier for a fourth time.
Berlusconi’s lawyer angrily denied the accusation and said it was defamatory.
A verdict in the case had been expected as early as January. A conviction just before the election would be a major blow to Berlusconi, who in October was convicted of tax fraud in a separate case involving his media holdings.
He denied the charges and is appealing the sentence, which is not considered definitive until all three levels of appeal are exhausted.
The courtroom turmoil played out as Italy’s political and financial foundations were rocked by fallout from Berlusconi’s decision last week to withdraw his party’s support for prime minister Mario Monti’s government, accusing Monti’s austerity measures of making Italy worse off than a year ago when he was last in power.
Monti announced over the weekend that he would resign after Parliament passes the 2013 budget, forcing elections to be moved up several weeks to February.
