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Clooney roped into Berlusconi case
Hollywood actor George Clooney is confused by his indirect involvement in Silvio Berlusconi’s under-age prostitution trial, after the beleaguered Italian PM has listed him as one of 78 defence witnesses.
Berlusconi is accused of having has sexual relations with Moroccan teenager Karima el-Mahroug – aka ‘Ruby Rubacuori’ – when she was 17 years old. And related to the same charge, the PM is also suspected to have intervened when Mahroug, a nightclub dancer, was accused of theft. The Italian Prime Minister has denied all allegations.
Clooney and his girlfriend, the Italian model and actress Elisabetta Canalis, are included in the list of witnesses because Mahroug alleges she saw them at a party organised by Berlusconi in a villa near Milan on February 14 of last year.
However Clooney – who owns a villa close by – is perplexed by his involvement in the trial. “It seems odd since I’ve only met Berlusconi once and that was in an attempt to get aid into Darfur,” he said.
It still remains to be seen whether Clooney and Canalis will be involved in the trial, as lawyers will be officially submitting their witnesses on Tuesday.
The trial is set to start on April 6.
