Stephanie FindlaySTAFF REPORTERYoung women dressed like nuns in theSister Act films and famous soccer players used to strip for Silvio Berlusconi, said a model testifying at the former Italian premier’s trial.
Imane Fadil, a 27-year-old native of Morocco, testified Monday in a Milan court where Berlusconi stands accused of having sex with an underage prostitute and using his influence as Italian premier in 2010 to cover it up.
Fadil is one of three women who have come forward to say gatherings at Berlusconi’s Milan mansion were not “carefree, elegant dinners,” as he has claimed, but raunchy “bunga bunga” parties.
Two young women wearing black habits, white veils and crucifixes did a pole dance before stripping down to their underwear, said Fadil.
Nicole Minetti, now a regional councillor for Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party, was one of the nun impersonators, Fadil said.
At another party, a Brazilian model wearing an AC Milan jersey and a mask depicting Ronaldinho — a Brazilian soccer star who used to play for the Italian soccer club owned by Berlusconi — stripped down to her thong.
Fadil said she offered the former premier some advice on diplomatic relations with late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, then still in power.
“I told him it was better to go and meet Gadhafi because we Arabs can be touchy,” she said.
According to Fadil, Berlusconi gave her 2,000 euros in cash, saying, “Don’t be offended, but I know you women are always in need.”
The women who slept over at the mansion could earn more money, she said, but they didn’t necessarily feel safe.
“The girls complained they were afraid of diseases,” she said, according to the U.K.’sGuardian newspaper. “But they all competed to stay because whoever stayed earned a lot more.”
Berlusconi resigned as premier in November 2011, a result of the poor economy, not the near-constant sex and corruption scandals during his three terms.
The 75-year-old media mogul is charged with having sex with an underage prostitute, Karima “Ruby the Heart Stealer” El-Mahrough, then 17 years old. (Paying a prostitute under the age of 18 is illegal in Italy.) Both he and El-Mahrough deny the charges.
Berlusconi paid 127,000 euros to three witnesses after the trial against him began, reported the Corriere della Sera, a newspaper in Milan. Minetti, the stripper “nun” turned politician, was one recipient.
“Minetti asked me for help at a time of difficulty and I happily gave it to her. When someone in difficulty asks for help, you don’t ask them what for,” Berlusconi told Il Giornale, a paper owned by his family, reported the Associated Foreign Press.
Sessions in the Berlusconi trial, held a few times a month, are scheduled until the end of May. If convicted, the former premier could be barred permanently from holding public office.
With files from the Star wire
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