15 January,2011 08:07 AM IST | | Agencies
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under investigation in a prostitution case involving a 17-year-old girl.
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He is being investigated over whether he exerted improper pressure on police officers to have a girl released when she was held over theft allegations.
An investigation source said that the probe included allegations of underage prostitution. Corriere della Sera said that the 74-year-old is suspected of abusing his power in trying to cover up his alleged sexual encounters with the girl Ruby Rubacuori.
Italian prosecutors said in a statement that they had issued a summons to Berlusconi and his lawyers in the case.
They said they were investigating alleged crimes committed between February and May 2010, when the girl was 17.
Berlusconi's lawyers dismissed the investigation as "absurd and groundless" and a "very serious interference in the private life" of the prime minister.
Did you know?
The age of consent is 14 in Italy but exploiting or favouring prostitution of minors aged under 18 is a crime.
