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MILAN (AP) — A judge has indicted the Moroccan woman at the center of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire scandal on charges of giving false testimony.
The judge set Jan. 11 as the opening date for the trial of Karima el-Mahroug and 22 others accused of accepting bribes and lying on the stand to protect Berlusconi in his trial on charges of having paid for sex with el-Mahroug — whose stage name was Ruby the Heartstealer — when she was an under-age teenager and he premier, and then using his influence to cover it up. Berlusconi was acquitted in the case on appeal.
Berlusconi also faces possible indictment, but his case was separated from the others due to health issues. A judge is to decide in December whether he will stand trial.
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