CHRONOLOGY: Berlusconi's sex scandals

Feb 9, 2011, 11:36 GMT

Rome - Silvio Berlusconi has repeatedly bounced back from allegations of corruption and tax fraud that have dogged him since he began his foray into politics in the early 1990s.

But a series of recent sex scandals may still prove to be the undoing of the Italian media magnate's political career.

April 2009: Newspapers report Berlusconi's surprise attendance of Neapolitan lingerie model Noemi Letizia's 18th birthday party.

May 2009: Berlusconi's wife, former actress Veronica Lario, writes an open letter denouncing her husband's behaviour and accusing him of sleeping with underage women.

Later that month Berlusconi's lawyers succeed in blocking the publication of scores of photographs showing scantily-clad women cavorting at the premier's luxury Sardinian villa.

However, some of the photographs - including one showing a naked former Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek surrounded by topless women - are posted online by a Spanish newspaper.

November 2010: A 17-year-old Moroccan go-go dancer Karima El Mahroug claims in a newspaper interview that she and other young women attended parties hosted by the premier at his residence in Arcore near Milan. The parties allegedly involved a sex game called the 'bunga-bunga'

Berlusconi denies having had sex with the dancer, who uses the stagename, Ruby Rubacuori (Ruby Stealer-of-hearts), but the premier admits intervening on her behalf when in May she was briefly held by police on suspicion of theft.

Reportedly telling police El Mahroug was the niece of Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, Berlusconi asked that she be placed in the care of a friend of his, former showgirl and regional politician Nicole Minetti.

It later emerges that the 24-year-old Minetti and another close friend of Berlusconi's, 79-year-old television news anchor Emilio Fede, are being investigated for prostitution in connection with procuring women to attend Berlusconi's parties.

January 2011: Italy's Constitutional Court partly invalidates a law which giving Berlusconi immuinty from trial due to his government duties.

A day later, prosecutors in Milan announce that the premier is under investigation for involvement in underage prostitution and abuse of power relating to the case involving El Mahroug.

Italy's centre-left opposition asks for Berlusconi's resignation while the Catholic Church pointedly says public officials should set an example by leading morally sound private lives.

Berlusconi denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer argue Milan prosecutors have no jurisdiction since the alleged offences took place outside the city boundaries.

February 3, 2011: Italian parliamentarians reject a request for a police search of the offices of Silvio Berlusconi's accountant who is suspected of handling payments allegedly made by the premier to prostitutes.

Berlusconi, as a member of parliament, enjoys immunity from arrest or searches in criminal probes, unless parliament decides otherwise.

February 9, 2011: Prosecutors in Milan submit a request for Berlusconi to stand trial on underage prostitution and abuse of power charges relating to the El Mahroug case.

A judge has five days to decide on whether the premier should stand trial.

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