Prosecutors Seek Immediate Trial for Berlusconi

A judge will soon decide whether or not to indict the 74-year-old Italian prime minister.

Silvio Berlusconi’s fate is now in the hands of a Milan judge whom prosecutors have presented with a dossier outlining allegations of sex crimes against the prime minister. The prosecutors say they have evidence Berlusconi slept with an underage prostitute and then used his political influence to free her from police custody. The judge is expected to take several days to reach his decision, which could finally see the long-time prime minister go to court in a fast-tracked trial. Berlusconi has slipped the prosecutorial noose dozens of times and enjoyed legal immunity until last month, when the Constitutional Court amended a law protecting him to allow individual judges to determine the merit of cases brought against him while in office.