ROME- Silvio Berlusconi denied ever having sex with 17-year-old ‘Ruby’ at his trial in Milan. He is accused of having resorted to prostitution.

The former Italian Prime Minister said “I never had intimate relations of any kind” with Karima El-Mahroug, nicknamed ‘Ruby Rubacuore’, a Moroccan night club dancer who Berlusconi allegedly had sex with in 2010 when she was only 17.

“I can rule out with absolute certainty that there were ever any scenes of a sexual nature” at Arcore, Berlusconi declared of his residence in the North of Italy. The press have often referred to evenings in his Villa San Martino as “orgies”, or “bunga bungas”, a term coined by the former PM himself.

In the trial he described the social evenings there as “dinners in a big dining room, in which I was at the centre of the table and I monopolised my guests’ attention as I sang, spoke of sport, of politics, and of gossip.”

He assured the court that at the time “I was convinced that [Ruby] was 24, as she told me herself”, and when he found out that she was 17, he was “left speechless.”

“Many tales have been told over what happens in my private residence, with clear intentions of defamation and intrusion into the private life of a citizen” he said.

He went on to explain the origin of the term “bunga bunga”, which was picked up by the press and went viral on social media after he was heard using it. “The expression bunga bunga comes from a joke I made a few times and which was reported by the press”. He denied that it made any reference to any sexual activity.

Berlusconi is accused of having resorted to prostitution, but denies the charges. “There has never been any financial compensation on my behalf for intimate relations with my guests. And my guests cannot be considered escorts.”