Welcome to the Italian Legal Circus!
Ah, Italy: the land of pizza, pasta, and a judicial system that seems to be auditioning for a soap opera. Grab your monocles and popcorn, because the latest episode involves twenty-two women, the ghost of Silvio Berlusconi, and enough courtroom drama to make a Shakespearean tragedy look like a Sunday picnic.
Who Are the Olgettine?
Known as the “Olgettine,” these women were embroiled in the infamous Ruby case, a tale that includes red light districts, dubious acquaintances, and—as we’ve come to expect—more twists than a pretzel at a fairground. The latest twist? They’re back in court, and Berlusconi’s shadow looms larger than a towering slice of tiramisu!
Once the darlings of the press, these ladies thought they’d managed to shimmy past their FBI-level interrogations—excuse me, I mean judicial inquiries—only to find themselves back in the dock. Yes, they thought they’d closed that chapter, but it turns out there’s a sequel, folks! The Prosecutor’s Office has hit “retry” on the scandal, leaving these women in a legal limbo while Berlusconi’s memory continues to haunt the proceedings like a bad haircut.
Chocolate Cake and Legal Pie: The Charges
The charges? Corruption and perjury, of course! But here’s the kicker: the perjury charges have expired. If only we could let our diets expire that quickly! The serious charge of corruption, however, remains on the menu until 2030. That’s right; it’s a legal buffet you can’t escape.
Berlusconi: The Phantom of the Opera… Court
Don’t think for a moment that with Berlusconi’s passing in June last year, this drama would have a peaceful resolution. Oh, no. Much like a bad penny, he just keeps turning up! The Attorney General is ready to remind everyone that Berlusconi’s name will still be mentioned in every hearing—and let’s be honest, those courtroom seats might as well be filled with his life-sized cardboard cutout for all the presence he’s bringing to the table!
A Ghost Story with a Legal Twist
This isn’t just about the Olgettine trying to escape the long arm of the law; it’s about an entire legacy swirling down the judiciary’s toilet. One lady, Ruby, who made headlines for her relationships with powerful men—not exactly a surprise—has now turned into a self-identified victim, declaring, “Berlusconi messed up my life.” Meanwhile, Marysthelle Polanco is left bewildered: “He’s acquitted, and I risk being convicted. How is this possible?” A riddle as old as time! If only courtroom logic made sense…
Future Implications
The prosecutors seem determined to keep this legal saga rolling. What’s next? Will the Olgettine start a podcast? “Confessions of an Ex-‘Guest’ of Arcore” sounds catchy! Whatever happens, you just know that this isn’t over yet. The intrigue, the scandal, and the never-ending back-and-forth keep everyone on the edge of their seats. Or perhaps just mildly entertained, like watching a slow-motion car crash.
Conclusion: Legal Drama Never Dies
So, as we sit back and watch this legal drama unfold, let’s raise a glass (of something strong—maybe grappa?) to the absurdity that is the Italian court system. When it comes to Berlusconi and the Olgettine, it seems that even in death, you can’t escape your past. And who knows? Maybe this time, justice will have its day. Or it’ll just end up as the punchline in Italy’s biggest comedy show.
«In competition with Berlusconi Silvio»: this will be written in the indictment with which in a few months the Court of Appeal of Milan will celebrate the trial of twenty-two women, who entered the news as «Olgettine» when they were thirteen years younger. Each took different paths, some got married and had children: like Kharima el Mahroug alias Ruby, who gave her name to the investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office. They thought they had put it behind them. Instead, yesterday the sixth section of the Court of Cassation, accepting the appeal of the Prosecutor’s Office, annulled the acquittal that had been issued in Milan.
The twenty-two ladies were all accused of corruption and perjury, the second crime has meanwhile expired, the most serious charge is still standing and will remain so for a long time (for some, until beyond 2030). The Milan Prosecutor’s Office will once again accuse the Olgettines of having lied, when – questioned in Berlusconi’s first trial for the Ruby case – they swore that they had never seen red light scenes in the Arcore villa. Of having lied for money: money promised and paid by Silvio Berlusconi.
In fact, the former prime minister, who died on 12 June last year, will also be sitting in effigy in the dock in the upcoming trial. Exactly one month earlier, on May 13, the reasons for the sentence had been filed which acquitted him of the accusation of having bribed the witnesses: because those, said the sentence of the Milan court, were not witnesses but people subjected to investigations, who would have had the right to remain silent, to have a defender, even to lie. Therefore, neither the crime of forgery nor that of corruption existed: the “Ruby ter” trial, the judges wrote, should not have even begun.
For the Prosecutor’s Office it was yet another defeat in the Ruby case, after Berlusconi had been acquitted in the main case. Prosecutors Tiziana Siciliano and Luca Gaglio were obviously preparing to appeal. But when the Knight died the Prosecutor’s Office found itself faced with a dilemma. Leave everything alone, implicitly recognizing that the only real objective was the leader of Forza Italia, and that once he was dead there was no longer any point in moving forward? Or persist and appeal anyway, knowing that a new trial of the ex-girlfriends would in fact be transformed into a post-mortem trial of the Knight?
In the end the choice was the second, aiming directly at the appeal to the Supreme Court. Yesterday the victory arrived, and the deputy prosecutor Tiziana Siciliano appeared in the press room of the Milanese courthouse: “We are satisfied – she says – and confident of obtaining the conviction”. The conviction of the twenty-two women, but not that of Berlusconi, for whom Siciliano and Gaglio had requested six years in prison and who instead was acquitted with a full sentence. In the meantime, Berlusconi’s acquittal has become definitive. But in the new trial the Milanese prosecutors are preparing to indicate him as the number one culprit.
It will be necessary to read the reasons for the sentence to understand how the Court of Cassation (presided yesterday by a high-level jurist, Giorgio Fidelbo) arrived at the decision to order a new trial. In his speech on 2 June, the Attorney General Roberto Aniello had recognized that the choice to interrogate the girls as witnesses had been «illegitimate, as they were supported by evidence of a crime» but that «this does not affect the existence of the crime of corruption in judicial acts”.
Legal difficulties aside, the essence is that this time too the Milanese prosecutor’s office is unable to do without its eternal defendant. That he won’t be in the courtroom, and his lawyers won’t be there to prove his innocence, but he will be mentioned at every hearing by the public prosecution.
In the background, there is the judicial affair of the twenty-two, who ended up in a story bigger than them. Like Ruby, who now tells the New York Times “Berlusconi messed up my life.” Or like Marysthelle Polanco, who asks herself: “He is acquitted, and I risk being convicted, how is this possible?”. Already.
