Karima El Maroug departs court after testifying against Berlusconi aides

Описание: (17 May 2013) SHOTLIST
1. Mid of Karima el-Mahroug (also known as Ruby Heart Stealer) talking to her lawyer Paola Boccardi
2. Wide of the court room
3. Wide of painting in court room
4. Mid of el-Mahroug hugging her husband Luca Risso outside the court room
5. Wide of el-Mahroug leaving the court house
6. Zoom in of media surrounding el-Mahroug and asking questions, she doesn't answer
7. Mid of media surrounding el-Mahroug
8. Pull out of el-Mahroug getting into a taxi
9. Various of taxi leaving
STORYLINE:
Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured not only aspiring show girls performing striptease acts as sexy nuns and nurses, but also dressed as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor, according to the first public sworn testimony by the Moroccan woman at the centre of the scandal.
Karima el-Mahroug, also known as "Ruby Heart Stealer" took the stand on Friday at the trial of three former Berlusconi aides accused with procuring her and other women for prostitution.
Her testimony confirms a sexually charged atmosphere at the "bunga bunga" parties of the then-sitting premier.
The trial is separate from the one in which Berlusconi is charged with paying for sex with a minor - el-Mahroug when she was 17 - and trying to cover it up.
El-Mahroug, now 20, said she attended about a half-dozen parties, using her nickname Ruby, and that after each, Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros (3,900 US dollars) in denominations of 500.
She said she later received 30,000 euros (38,000 US dollars) cash from the then-premier paid through an intermediary - money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to use to open a beautician salon despite having no formal training.
But she denied that Berlusconi had ever given her 5 (m) million euros (6.43 million US dollars).
She said she told acquaintances and even her father that she was going to receive such a large sum "as a boast" but that it was a lie to make her seem more important.
The three Berlusconi aides - Emilio Fede, an executive in Berlusconi's media empire; Nicole Minetti, a former dental hygienist, showgirl and local politician, and talent agent Dario "Lele" Mora - are accused of recruiting women for prostitution at the parties and abetting prostitution, including of a minor.
They deny the charges.
El-Mahroug has made carefully orchestrated statements to the media since the scandal broke, but has never publicly given sworn testimony.
Both she and Berlusconi deny having had sex.
Dressed soberly with her hair pulled back, El-Mahroug said she first made contact with Berlusconi's inner circle when she participated in a beauty contest organised by Fede in Sicily when she was 16.
After that she made her way to Milan, hoping to find work.
She said she tried to get work through another defendant's talent agency but didn't have proper identity documents, and wound up landing a job as a hostess in nightclubs, earning around 100 euros (130 US dollars) a night.
She frequently changed accommodation during that time, staying for periods of days with people whose names she no longer recalls.
Eventually, she ran into Fede at a restaurant, where she reminded him of his promise in Sicily to help her.
Shortly thereafter, she was invited to a dinner party, at Berlusconi's villa outside of Milan.
She testified that she met the premier that night - on Valentine's Day in 2010 - and that he gave her an envelope of 2,000 to 3,000 euros (2,600 - 3,900 US dollars) as she was leaving, saying it was "a little help" and asking for her telephone number, which she gave him.
She added: "I never saw contact."


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