Outside Milan courthouse yesterday afternoon, they were singing the Italian national anthem. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has always been a divisive figure in public life but that was never more evident than yesterday.
Opponents greeted the news that he had received a lifelong ban from public office and a seven-year (suspended) prison sentence with a lusty rendition of Fratelli D'Italia.
In a sensational verdict, Berlusconi was condemned for “abuse of office” and “involvement in underage prostitution” in the context of the so-called “Rubygate” sex scandal trial.
Although Berlusconi’s ban from public office does not take effect immediately, given that his defence has already indicated that it will appeal the verdict, the political fallout could still be explosive.
Berlusconi has consistently argued that he is the victim of a political witch-hunt organised by left-wing magistrates. Last night he called the sentence "incredible" and an attempt to "eliminate me from the political life of this country", while it represented an "offence" to all his supporters.
Major cases
Over the last 20 years, Berlusconi has featured in at least 20 major court cases in which he has been accused, but nearly always not convicted, of corruption, bribery, fraud, false bookkeeping, money-laundering, tax-evasion and other crimes.
However, the “Rubygate” trial has been the most ignominiously controversial since, if the state prosecutor’s case were to be believed, it painted a picture of a private life in which the sex- crazed former prime minister entertained himself with his own private harem, usually in the “Bunga Bunga” room at his Villa San Martino residence in Arcore, outside Milan.
Essentially, the three women judges yesterday had to rule on two critical accusations. Firstly, had his parties in Arcore been sexual orgies involving the then 17-year-old Karima “Ruby” El Mahroug or, as Berlusconi has consistently claimed, had they been “elegant dinner parties”, featuring some after-dinner “burlesque” cabaret?
Secondly, why on the night of May 27th, 2010, had Berlusconi found time during an OECD summit in Paris to urgently contact the Milan police station where Ruby was being held on theft charges, to urge that she be released?
Had he done so because, as he has claimed, he was keen to avoid a diplomatic incident since he genuinely believed that she was the granddaughter of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak? Or had he done so in order to cover up his own involvement with her?
Harsher sentence
The extent to which the court has accepted the prosecution's version of events was underlined by at least two aspects of yesterday's verdict.
Firstly, the court issued a harsher sentence, seven years, than that originally called for by the state prosecutor. Secondly, the court has passed on the trial records to the public prosecutor’s office, calling for a number of defence witnesses to be investigated on perjury charges.