Italy PM says he's a 'sinner'
Source: Agencies |
February 12, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday acknowledged he "sometimes is a sinner" but accused magistrates who want him to stand trial over a sex scandal of using "Soviet-style spying" to oust him in a political coup.
The embattled prime minister used an interview in Il Foglio, an influential opinion daily, to raise the stakes in his war of nerves with Milan magistrates ahead of a judge's decision next week on whether he should stand trial on charges of paying for sex with a minor and later abusing his power to help her.
"I, sometimes, like everyone, am a sinner but the type of moralistic justice being waged against me is ... simply scandalous," he said in the interview with Il Foglio's editor Giuliano Ferrara, a former Berlusconi minister.
Prosecutors accuse Berlusconi of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is against the law in Italy. They also accuse him of abusing the powers of his office by pressuring police to have her released from custody over separate theft allegations.
Their request for an immediate trial, indicating they believe they have enough evidence to skip a preliminary hearing, adds to the huge pressure on Berlusconi, who is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.
In his latest broadside against the magistrates, who he says are politically motivated, Berlusconi said their investigation was "farcical and worthy of the espionage hunting expeditions on other people's lives" that were carried out in former East Germany.
He said he was the target of those who wanted to carry out a political "coup by moralists."
The prosecutors' request for a trial had hundreds of pages of evidence alleging Berlusconi paid for sex with a "significant number" of young women, including then-17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, known by her stage name Ruby.
The deposition also alleges that he later exerted improper pressure on officials to have El Mahroug released from a Milan police station after she was detained on unrelated theft allegations.
He has acknowledged making a call to police on El Mahroug's behalf, saying he had been told she was Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's niece.
The embattled prime minister used an interview in Il Foglio, an influential opinion daily, to raise the stakes in his war of nerves with Milan magistrates ahead of a judge's decision next week on whether he should stand trial on charges of paying for sex with a minor and later abusing his power to help her.
"I, sometimes, like everyone, am a sinner but the type of moralistic justice being waged against me is ... simply scandalous," he said in the interview with Il Foglio's editor Giuliano Ferrara, a former Berlusconi minister.
Prosecutors accuse Berlusconi of paying for sex with a nightclub dancer when she was under 18, which is against the law in Italy. They also accuse him of abusing the powers of his office by pressuring police to have her released from custody over separate theft allegations.
Their request for an immediate trial, indicating they believe they have enough evidence to skip a preliminary hearing, adds to the huge pressure on Berlusconi, who is clinging to power after a split in the ruling PDL party last year.
In his latest broadside against the magistrates, who he says are politically motivated, Berlusconi said their investigation was "farcical and worthy of the espionage hunting expeditions on other people's lives" that were carried out in former East Germany.
He said he was the target of those who wanted to carry out a political "coup by moralists."
The prosecutors' request for a trial had hundreds of pages of evidence alleging Berlusconi paid for sex with a "significant number" of young women, including then-17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, known by her stage name Ruby.
The deposition also alleges that he later exerted improper pressure on officials to have El Mahroug released from a Milan police station after she was detained on unrelated theft allegations.
He has acknowledged making a call to police on El Mahroug's behalf, saying he had been told she was Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's niece.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
