Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ruled his country with an iron fist in a velvet glove during his three terms in office from 1994 to 2011. In a surprise statement by his bosom buddy, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ex-PM received support of the velvet glove in an un-candid manner.

Berlusconi was forced to resign in November 2011 when it was revealed that he had paid for sex with an underage prostitute nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer. In Putin’s eyes, this should apparently be celebrated and not condemned.

“Berlusconi is being tried because he lives with women,” Putin said and added: “If he was homosexual, no one would have lifted a finger against him.”

The remarks provoked laughter at the Valdai Club, a Kremlin-supported discussion forum where the President in a turn-around seized the moment to add harsh criticism towards liberalization of laws on gay marriage and same-sex couples.

“Europeans are heading for extinction. Marriage between people of the same sex does not produce babies,” the President said.

Russia is set to host the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics and has received a barrage of scorn from athletes around the world following recently introduced draconian anti-gay laws. The bill signed into law on June 30, 2013, bans “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.”

The International Olympic Committee president Jacgues Rogge said in August 2013 that the rules within the Olympic Charter had to be respected and that: “Sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation.”

Meanwhile, Berlusconi gets the thumbs up from Putin to splurge tax-money on a Moroccan-born underage hooker.

“However much they nag Signor Berlusconi for his special attitude to the beautiful sex, he has shown himself a responsible statesman,” Putin told a conference in 2011.

The scandalous politician in Italy has shown already what a remarkably responsible statesman he can be. For example, he made sure that the judiciary dropped three previous allegations against him when he made sure to pass laws in parliament, which reduced the time limit for prosecution of the crimes he was accused of.

On June 24, 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying Ruby the Heart Stealer for sex when she was 17, and of abusing his power to try and cover it up by falsely claiming she was a relative of the then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in jail and banned from public office for life. Obviously he is expected to appeal and the sentence is not likely to be enforced for several years.