An Italian appeals court today (July 18, 2014) acquitted former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case, reversing a lower court conviction that had carried a seven-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban on holding political office, the Yahoo News website reports.
The case has received global attention, offering an unseemly peek into the 77-year-old three-time prime minister's private life with witness testimony revealing raunchy, sex-fueled bunga-bunga parties at his private villa in Milan attended by a large number of aspiring showgirls.
Berlusconi denied the charges, saying the case was politically motivated by magistrates trying to drive him from power. Both he and el-Mahroug -- who was a 17-year-old Moroccan prostitute when she frequented the then-prime minister's villa -- denied ever having sex.
The acquittal was announced just as Berlusconi was leaving a facility for Alzheimer's patients where he is performing community service for a separate conviction on a tax fraud charge. That is the only case finalized against Berlusconi -- a billionaire -- who has faced dozens of trials, mostly for his deceitful business dealings.
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