FOR gossip-loving Italians, it's a feast. To others, it may bemore than they ever wanted to know about Silvio Berlusconi, hispurported sexual appetites and parties with topless girls -- or inone case, with a woman told to dress in a sexy nurse's uniform.
Italian newspapers are filled with embarrassing leaks of wiretapsordered by Milan prosecutors as part of their prostitution probetargeting the 74-year-old Italian leader and his alleged encounterswith a Moroccan teenager known as Ruby.
The premier has denied any wrongdoing and condemned the violationof his privacy.
Still, transcripts of the purported conversations involving Ruby,women who attended parties in Mr Berlusconi's villa near Milan andsome of the premier's aides and friends offer a glimpse into anindulgent lifestyle that critics say is inappropriate for a publicofficial.
In some purported conversations, Mr Berlusconi's house isdescribed as a brothel with topless girls dancing around; thepremier himself is described as a "caricature" by one guest and ashaving gained weight and having become ugly by another.
Other published wiretaps have a woman identified as Ruby sayingthat Mr Berlusconi was willing to pay for her silence.
"If even just a third of the mind-blowing lifestyle that emergesfrom the Milan prosecutors' material is truthful, then we would befaced with the decline of a man who has been an importantprotagonist of the last 30 years of Italy's public life. I'm talkingabout Silvio Berlusconi," said a front-page editorial by Libero, aconservative newspaper close to the prime minister that chose topublish huge portions of the wiretaps this week.
Prosecutors have placed Mr Berlusconi and three associates underinvestigation, on suspicion that the premier between February andMay paid for sex with the Moroccan girl, then a minor, and used hisoffice to cover it up.
Prosecutors have said in a document that "a significant number ofyoung women ... have prostituted themselves with Silvio Berlusconi".
Paying for sex with a prostitute is a crime in Italy if theprostitute is under 18.
Transcripts of the wiretaps -- 389 pages -- were sent from theMilan prosecutors to a parliamentary commission in Rome examiningdocuments relating to the investigation.
For the past few days, the wiretaps have been gleefully publishedon virtually every Italian newspaper's front page and the officialdocument by Milan prosecutors has been widely distributed on file-sharing internet sites.
Mr Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, has denied ever payingfor sex. The premier went on the attack on Wednesday when he saidthe prosecutors should be punished for conducting what he said wasan illegitimate and politically-motivated probe.
He accused them of using means and forces "as if they had tocarry out a raid against the Mafia".
Ruby has also denied any sexual intercourse, saying this weekthat Mr Berlusconi never "put a finger on me".
But Ruby, who was 18 in November, admitted lying about her agewhen she met Mr Berlusconi on Valentine's Day, saying she was 24instead of 17.
In wiretaps printed on Tuesday by Italy's leading newspaperCorriere della Sera, Ruby talked to her father on October 26 andtold him she was with a lawyer.
"Silvio has told him, 'Tell her that I will pay whatever priceshe wants, the important thing is that she keep her mouth shut, thatshe deny everything... that I have never seen a 17-year-old'," Rubyis purportedly heard telling her father.
On the same day, a woman identified as Ruby allegedly says she isseeking EUR 5m (Pounds 4.3m) from Mr Berlusconi, according to thewiretap.
But Ruby denied in a TV interview this week that she ever soughtthat amount of money.
Other alleged conversations suggest wild parties where girls wereas scantily dressed as possible on Mr Berlusconi's TV channels.
In September, a woman identified as a former reality showcontestant is heard telling her twin sister that Mr Berlusconi "hasgained weight and is uglier".
"Last year, he was in better shape... Now he has become ugly: butas long as he pays," she says.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий