Berlusconi to sue newspaper for printing photos of him with topless women
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Photographs of topless women lounging at Silvio Berlusconi's holiday villa have been published by a Spanish newspaper despite attempts by the Italian prime minister to have them banned.
Among the five images is a picture showing two young women dressed only in thongs, relaxing in the landscaped garden in Sardinia, as well as Mr Berlusconi walking in the garden beside another young woman, who is clothed.
Another shows a naked man by an outdoor pool. Aside from the Italian prime minister, all have their faces obscured and none was identified.
The photographs will intensify a frenzied debate in Italy on the nature of Mr Berlusconi's relationship with a string of attractive young women, some of whom he has propelled into politics.
Mr Berlusconi had suppressed the images in his own country, with his lawyers persuading prosecutors to seize the photos and place Antonello Zappadu, the photographer who took them, under investigation for alleged violation of privacy. But the rights to the photos had already been sold outside Italy and they were published in El Pais under the headline: "The photos vetoed by Berlusconi."
Privacy
Mr Berlusconi condemned publication of the pictures, which were taken with a long lens, as a gross intrusion into his privacy.
He called the accusations "petty" and suggested that they were engineered by the centre-Left opposition to damage him before this weekend's elections for the European Parliament.
As Mr Berlusconi's critics basked in the scandal surrounding his personal life, his supporters worked to draw attention to his achievements in office, for which one group said the Italian prime minister deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.
The group, Berlusconi for Nobel, contends that he deserves the prize for his role as mediator in Russia's war with Georgia last summer. "He saved lives," said Giammario Battaglia (36), a lawyer who helped start the initiative.
But few are focusing on Mr Berlusconi's foreign record in the face of the turmoil in his personal life. El Pais accused the billionaire of "trying to convert the democratic political space into a simple extension of his friendship ties and his entertainment".
Mr Berlusconi's lawyer said he would sue the newspaper for publishing the photographs.
The pictures will provide the prime minister's critics with more ammunition at a time when he is under investigation for alleged improper use of government planes to fly guests, including a flamenco dancer and a singer, to his Sardinian retreat. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Nick Squires in Rome
