Closing statements in Berlusconi trial

MILAN -- Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's defense denied Monday that there were any erotic escapades at dinners at the media mogul's villa near Milan, and accused the court of bias against the businessman-turned-politician.

Nicolo Ghedini said during closing arguments that Berlusconi neither paid for sex with an underage teen, nor exerted pressure on police officials in an effort to cover it up, as charged. The trial is in its final stage, with a verdict expected later this month. The next trial date was set for June 24.

Both Berlusconi and the woman, Karima el-Mahroug, who is now 20 and was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters, deny ever having had sex.

Ghedini said most prosecution witnesses who described scenes of sexual excess during the parties were not there between February 2010 and May 2010 when el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby, attended dinners at the villa. Defense witnesses described "normal" dinners during which participants chatted about soccer and denied any sexual encounters with the then-premier.

"We have 25 witnesses give more or less similar accounts of the evenings," Ghedini said, adding that prosecutors could not argue that their witnesses were correct while those of the defense who denied having sex with the premier were not reliable.

One witness who never testified at Berlusconi's trial was el-Mahroug herself.

However, she did testify at a related trial of three former aides to Berlusconi.

In the other trial, el-Mahroug denied having sex with Berlusconi, while also saying she had exaggerated many of her exploits to friends and acquaintances to make herself seem more important.

-- AP