THE nightclub dancer at the centre of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex trial has staged a dramatic protest outside the court, alleging she had been unfairly pressured as part of a campaign against Berlusconi.
Karima El Mahroug's emotional and at times contradictory statement in defence of Berlusconi followed a protest by parliamentarians from his party outside the court last month as the media magnate tries to have the trial moved away from Milan.
The charges against Berlusconi, which he denies, include paying for sex with Ms El Mahroug, better known under her stage name Ruby the Heartstealer, when she was a minor.
She has always denied being a prostitute or having sex with the 76-year-old billionaire during the now-notorious "bunga bunga" evenings at his villa outside Milan, where numerous witnesses have said she was a regular guest.
She said she faced "real and genuine psychological torture" from magistrates once they realised she would not provide evidence against Berlusconi.
She said: "I felt used by sections of the press and judges which had a common objective, to hurt people who had helped me.
"My suffering is also the fault of those judges ... who described me as a prostitute even though I denied having sexual relations for money and above all having them with Silvio Berlusconi."
Ms El Mahroug demanded to be allowed to testify in open court but declined to explain to reporters why she had avoided summons to appear at previous hearings.
The trial has been suspended while judges consider Berlusconi's request to transfer it away from Milan, where he says magistrates are waging a vendetta against him.
The next hearing is due on April 22.
Berlusconi is also appealing against a four-year sentence for tax fraud, and his legal problems further complicate the political standoff that arose when elections in February left no party able to form a government.
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