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Establishment urges swift end to Berlusconi scandal

Paola Totaro

THE President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, has expressed ''grave concern'' over the lurid prostitution scandal that has enveloped Silvio Berlusconi, demanding ''swift clarification'' of the accusations and signalling for the first time that his days as Prime Minister may be numbered.

In an unusually co-ordinated pincer movement, religious, political and business leaders in Italy have united in calling for a quick end to an affair that has ''brought shame on the nation''.

Senior bishops in Rome used a Vatican paper, Avvenire, and a rare front-page editorial to decry ''even the notion'' that a national leader might be involved in prostitution, let alone with a minor, describing the claims as ''morally indefensible'' and linking the scandal to Italy's prevailing culture of ''power, sex and money''.

Silvio Berlusconi ... ‘‘brought shame on the nation’’. Photo: AFP

The head of the powerful Confindustria employers' association, Emma Marcegaglia, said: ''It is not for me to demand it, but it is time to take some quick decisions because this nation needs a government that can indeed govern''.

The criticisms - and a call to resign from the Italian opposition - come in the wake of the leaking of the full text of Milan prosecutors' indictment of Mr Berlusconi, which has painted an almost unbelievable world of sex orgies and prostitution paid for with enormous amounts of cash, free housing and expensive gifts allegedly provided by the Prime Minister.

''Even if no crime has been committed, can he continue to govern the country after what has happened and the things we have read?'' said Dario Franceschini, the Democratic Party leader in the Chamber of Deputies.

"I thought he'd put on weight, he looked uglier. Last year he was looking fitter, now he's looking over the hill" ... Showgirl Imma De Vivo talks to her twin sister, Eleonora, about Mr Berlusconi last year. Photo: Getty Images

Mr Berlusconi, 74, has laughed off the calls, saying he is ''amused'' by the affair and describing the resignation demands as ''mad''.

He recorded a video on Sunday aired on national TV, and has denied all wrongdoing, insisting that wiretaps should not be taken at face value or heard out of context. He said he had employed, paid for and provided housing and help to ''hundreds'' of young people but only in exchange for ''friendship and affection'', never sex.

But according to the prosecutors' dossier, an array of witnesses, including young women, friends, lawyers and showgirls turned provincial officials, reveal how the world of politics and showbusiness has collided under the leadership of a media billionaire tycoon turned politician.

"I've been going to his home since I was 16, but I've always denied everything" ... Karima El Mahroug, Ruby the Heart stealer last year. Photo: AFP

Italian newspapers have been thrown into a renewed frenzy by the latest revelations, somewhat hypocritically running transcripts of the intercepted conversations accompanied by photographs of an array of the young and attractive women.

In one conversation, long-haired twins discuss a recent dinner at Mr Berlusconi's villa: ''I thought he'd put on weight,'' Imma De Vivo tells her sister Eleonora. ''He looked uglier. Last year he was looking fitter, now he's looking over the hill. And he's ugly with it. He's just got to cough up.''

The scandal erupted when prosecutors opened an investigation into charges that Mr Berlusconi gave a young Moroccan-born girl, Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby Rubacuori, or Ruby Heartstealer, cash and gifts in return for sex at his villa outside Milan when she was a minor.

‘‘[Nicole Minetti] had her breasts out and she was kissing Berlusconi continuously; what a whorehouse’’ ... Carlo Ferrigno, a former head of a police intelligence service. Photo: AFP

Mr Berlusconi, who has denied the claims, has also been accused of helping her to get out of police custody after she was arrested for suspected theft. The wiretaps published this week reveal that Ruby, now 18, asked for €5 million ($6.7 million) to keep quiet and that she claims Mr Berlusconi had called her saying he would give her as much as she wanted - ''cover you in gold'' - if she said nothing.

The investigators also have their sights on a coterie of Mr Berlusconi's oldest friends, including Lele Mora, 55, an agent who represents TV stars, and Emilio Fede, 79, who was director of a news program owned by Mr Berlusconi's company, Mediaset.

Nicole Minetti, 25, is accused of ''managing'' the young women who attend Mr Berlusconi's parties. It was she who was asked to take care of Ruby when she was released from police custody.

A parliamentary committee is expected to examine this week the latest request by prosecutors to search some of the properties owned by Mr Berlusconi to find documentation that might show how the young women were compensated and housed, allegedly in exchange for sexual favours.

More Related Coverage Accusations against media tsar like a reality TV show ROME: The taped conversations, splashed across the media, have gripped Italy. Culled from a range of women, lawyers and associates, the wiretaps show the intersection of politics and the kind of reality-television culture that Silvio Berlusconi has helped create in his decades as Italy's largest private broadcaster. Cash for girls was merely an act of charity for women in need, says Berlusconi representative 20 Jan Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has laughed off an inquiry into his bawdy sex life and relationship with an underage girl as magistrates struggled for permission to search his offices for evidence against him. Spotlight on Ruby Heartstealer and those 'bunga bunga' parties 19 Jan There are many perplexing things about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi's 'Superman' sex quip ROME: Silvio Berlusconi has made an attempt to laugh off the prostitution scandal that threatens to topple his government, declaring: ''I'd be better than Superman if I'd had parties with 24 girls.'' Read more at www.smh.com.au

 

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