Berlusconi faces trial demand over claims of sex with girl, 17

Italian prosecutors have formally requested that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi should stand trial over accusations that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then used his influence to try to cover it up.

A judge must now decide whether to accept the prosecutors' request and indict the leader, or dismiss it.

The prosecutors filed their request in Milan yesterday and are seeking an immediate trial.

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The judge is expected to be make his decision on the trial in the next two weeks.

Mr Berlusconi, who is 74, has denied the charges and yesterday called the investigation “disgusting”.

He claimed the inquiry was aimed at damaging his government.

He said the accusations against him were groundless and insisted the Milan prosecutors were violating the law by overstepping their jurisdiction.

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It is illegal in Italy to pay for sex with a woman under the age of 18.

Dozens of Mr Berlusconi's supporters protested against the prosecution's decision, some waving Italian flags in a demonstration across the street from the court entrance.

Mr Berlusconi was giving a news conference in Rome on his plans to relaunch the Italian economy with great public works while the application was made.

Prosecutors allege Mr Berlusconi paid for sex with 17-year-old Moroccan Karima el Mahroug, who has since turned 18, and then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for suspected theft, fearing her relationship to him would be revealed.

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Ms el Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer, was ultimately released into the custody of a Berlusconi aide who also is under investigation.

The premier's supporters say he made the call to avoid a diplomatic incident because he believed at the time that the girl was the niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

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