The conviction of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had been found guilty of paying for an underage prostitute, was overturned on appeal.
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013; a member of the Senate of the Republic from 2022 until his death in 2023, and previously from March to November 2013; and a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2022, and previously from 1999 to 2001. With a net worth of US$6.8 billion in June 2023, Berlusconi was the third-wealthiest person in Italy at the time of his death.
Silvio Berlusconi prostitution trial
Silvio Berlusconi, then the Prime Minister of Italy, was accused and initially convicted of paying 17-year-old Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, also known by the stage name Ruby Rubacuori, for sexual services between February and May 2010 when she was under the age of 18; he was found not guilty on appeal. He was also found not guilty on appeal after having been formerly convicted of malfeasance in office by arranging to have El Mahroug released from police detention during an incident in which she was briefly held on claims of theft. On 24 June 2013, the Court of First Instance sentenced Berlusconi to seven years in prison, and banned him from public office for life. Berlusconi appealed the sentence, and on 18 July 2014, an appeals court overturned Berlusconi's conviction, thus making him once again eligible to hold elected office.