Magistrate says Berlusconi tried to hide sex crime

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi allegedly used the power of his office to try and hide a sex crime, the examining magistrate in his case has said in a legal brief explaining why he should stand trial.

Magistrate Cristina Di Censo this week upheld prosecutors' requests that the prime minister stand trial for illegally buying sex with a 17-year old and abusing his position to free her when she was detained by police for theft.

Berlusconi's move to release the young girl, known as Ruby, "was clearly aimed at concealing the other crime... and ensuring impunity for himself," Di Censo wrote in the order, obtained by AFP on Thursday.

His intervention, a "glaringly anomalous act," was "certainly an abuse of his status as prime minister," the legal document said.

Berlusconi had "no authority" over "the identification and custody of minors" or "powers to intervene with the police," it said.

"Ruby the Heart Stealer," real name Karima El Mahroug, is a Moroccan-born runaway apparently spotted by one of Berlusconi's cronies in a Milan club who then asked her to entertain the prime minister, who showered her with gifts.

Prosecutors allege the premier paid Ruby for sex, illegal under the age of 18 in Italy, and a crime that carries a maximum sentence of three years.

Should they prove he abused his powers to later spring Ruby from custody, however, the prime minister would face up to 12 years in prison.

According to Italian media, Berlusconi was at an international summit in Paris in May when he received a call telling him that Ruby had been arrested for allegedly stealing 3,000 euros (4,000 dollars) from her housemate.

Berlusconi rang the police station and told officials to release Ruby because she was the niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. His lawyers say he was just acting fast to avoid diplomatic fallout.

Berlusconi later protested he had no idea she was not Mubarak's niece, claiming the teenager had also lied to him about her age. Ruby says she had come clean on both accounts before her arrest.

But Di Censo said Berlusconi's story was "clearly contradicted by the logic of events," and said there was no evidence the premier had attempted to contact the Egyptian authorities to check Ruby's identity.

The first hearing is scheduled for April 6.