"Ah! servile Italy, grief's hostelry! / A ship without a pilot in great tempest! / No Lady thou of Provinces, but brothel!" Dante Alighieri, "The Divine Comedy", Purgatorio: Canto VI 

Monday, July 18, 2011 -- In the Milan Palace of Justice, a building protected by steel gates and blocks of marble, the next hearing in a trial got underway. It is the 16th trial against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi since the early 1990s -- and by far the most spectacular. The proceedings are only now moving forward after delays due to questions about the court's jurisdiction and because the defendant was unable to attend because he was traveling on official business.

Indeed, Berlusconi has yet to appear in the courtroom, whose front wall is adorned with the images of three women -- allegorical depictions of Truth, Justice and the Law. Cages once used to hold defendants in Mafia trials are lined up along the side.

A 782-page dossier, numbered 5657/2011, was created in this Mussolini-era building near Milan's cathedral. It is filled with recordings of telephone conversations held by Berlusconi's party girls, their text messages, their diary entries and the transcripts of their police interrogations.

Berlusconi is said to have had sex with 33 women during private parties at his estates, such as the 145-room Villa San Martino in Arcore. One of those women was only 17, a nightclub dancer who uses the stage name Ruby Rubacuori. The indictment by the Fourth Chamber of the Milan Criminal Court includes charges of abuse of office and the promotion of underage prostitution.

'Say Nothing'

The investigators have compiled several pieces of evidence that support the indictment, even though both the defendant and Rubacuori deny the charges. Nevertheless, recorded telephone conversations between Rubacuori and her friends suggest the opposite is true. In one of many examples, Rubacuori says: "He called me yesterday and said: Ruby, I'll give you as much money as you want. I'll pay you, I'll cover you with money, but it's important that you keep everything a secret. Say nothing -- to anyone."

Il Cavaliere -- a sinner caught in the act. Not just the Milan court, but all of Italy must once again confront the buffooneries of its aging prime minister -- and this at a time when the country is in economic difficulties serious enough to threaten its very survival, and when the future of Project Europe depends in part on whether the third-largest economic power in the euro zone is being run decently and with sound judgment.