Silvio Berlusconi says ‘Bunga Bunga’ parties were ‘burlesque contests’

He denies the charges and the woman, Karima El Mahroug, who is now 18, also
says she never went slept with him, either voluntarily or for money.

Mr Berlusconi said the “burlesque contests” took place in an underground room
of his mansion where his children, now all grown up, used to host discos for
their friends.

“The girls, the women, are by their nature exhibitionists,” the 75-year-old
former premier said during a break in the hearing.

“I was watching with great interest, because I was enjoying myself greatly and
I will continue to do so.”

At the last hearing in the trial, on Monday, a model told the court that some
of the women performed stripteases while dressed as nuns, while another
peeled off an AC Milan shirt wearing a mask of the footballer Ronaldinho.

Responding to evidence that he has been paying women who will be called as
witnesses tens of thousands of euros during the course of the trial, he said
he did so because their lives had been “ruined” by the scandal.

Their only fault had been to accept invitations to “normal” dinners which
sometimes ended with “theatrical spectaculars”, he insisted.

Mr Berlusconi said the “true scandal” was the money spent by the Italian state
on the trial.

During the hearing, a Milan police officer recounted the night that he had
been telephoned by the prime minister, who asked him to release from custody
Miss El Mahroug, known by her stage name as Ruby the Heart Stealer.

Mr Berlusconi claimed that the teenager was the granddaughter or niece of
Hosni Mubarak, the then president of Egypt, and that her arrest could cause
a diplomatic incident.

Piero Ostuni, the police officer, said he received the call in May 2010 but
found the claim hard to credit.

The trial continues.

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