Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a date. Unfortunately, it's a trial date, stemming from charges that he paid an underage Moroccan belly dancer for sex and then abused his position to have said underage Moroccan belly dancer bailed out of jail when she was busted for shoplifting in Milan last May.

Milan Judge Cristina Di Senso handed down the indictment this morning, setting the trial date for April 6, in accordance with prosecutors' wishes that the prime minister be forced to stand trial immediately.

This certainly won't be Berlusconi's first time in a courtroom. In the past, he has gone on trial for tax fraud, false accounting, and embezzlement in the dealings of the 74-year-old billionaire's media empire.

Monday's indictment comes after thousands of women across Italy turned out Sunday to protest the prime minister's sordid "bunga bunga" parties with young women and the overt sexism on Italian television, 90 percent of which is controlled by Berlusconi's company, Mediaset.

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Ray Gustini