US actor George Clooney could testify in Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s defence in his upcoming sex trial, a lawyer close to the case told AFP yesterday.

“We have proposed George Clooney as a witness,” the lawyer said, adding that the actor was on a list of 78 witnesses the premier’s legal team would like to call in Mr Berlusconi’s defence.

Mr Clooney’s girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis, an Italian model and actress, is also on the defence’s witness list.

The Golden Globe-winning actor has a house on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, not far from Mr Berlusconi’s private villa at Arcore, where the billionaire Prime Minister is alleged to have thrown wild parties.

Mr Berlusconi is set to stand trial in April 6 for allegedly having paid pole dancer Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, for sex when she was 17, after one of his legendary parties.

“Ruby says both Clooney and Canalis were at a party at Arcore,” the lawyer said.

The defence team have argued that Ruby and other would-be starlets have lied over Mr Berlusconi’s alleged nights with prostitutes and raucous parties with orgies and guests dressed up as nurses or policewomen.

The list includes four Italian ministers and high-profile “personalities from the Italian showbiz world”, the lawyer added.

The Milan judges may decide not to grant the proposed witnesses if they decide their testimony is not relevant to the case in question.

Mr Berlusconi, 74, is accused not only of paying for sex with Ruby but also of improperly using his power as Prime Minister by asking police to release her after she was arrested for suspected theft in May.

Using the services of prostitutes is not a crime in Italy, but paying for sex with a girl under the age of 18 is illegal. Mr Berlusconi has denied ever paying for sex, let alone with Ruby, who turned 18 in November 2010.