Berlusconi allies found guilty on sex charges

PanARMENIAN.Net - Three associates of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi have been found guilty of procuring prostitutes for his controversial "bunga bunga" parties, BBC News reported.

Emilio Fede, Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti were given jail sentences of between five and seven years.

Last month Berlusconi was given seven years in jail for paying for sex with 17-year-old Karima El Mahroug.

Both Berlusconi and Mahroug deny having had sex, and she says she has never been a prostitute.

Mahroug is one of the women that the three associates in the current trial are alleged to have procured.

Berlusconi was also banned from public office in the earlier ruling, which he is appealing against. He remains a free man while he does so.

Berlusconi insists the alleged sex parties were actually dinners where female guests performed "burlesque" dancing.