Mystery over claims of naked Silvio Berlusconi photographs - Telegraph.co.uk

'Ruby the Heart Stealer' is at the centre of allegations including that Mr Berlusconi paid for sex with an under-age prostitute, claims he denies Photo: REUTERS

The pictures are alleged to have been taken by one or more of the showgirls who attended the Italian prime minister’s so-called “bunga bunga” parties at his mansion outside Milan.

An Italian newspaper reported that the existence of the images had prompted a bidding war between magazines and photo agencies, with a starting price of €1?million (£840,000).

The premier’s legal team said that the pictures, if they even existed, “would be fakes, manipulated pictures, photo montages”. They have nonetheless filed complaints with judicial authorities and Italy’s privacy watchdog as a precaution against publication.

Investigators seized computers and mobile phones from young women whom Mr Berlusconi, 74, allegedly installed as a “harem” in an upmarket apartment complex in Milan. They are examining the devices to see whether they contain still or video images of the prime minister’s home, Villa San Martino.

Prosecutors in Milan are expected to call on Monday or Tuesday for Mr Berlusconi to be sent for trial on allegations of paying for sex with El-Mahroug, an alleged underage prostitute known as Ruby the Heart Stealer, and of abusing his office in trying to have her released from police custody on a theft charge. The prime minister, whose centre-Right party still has a higher approval rating than the opposition, has denied any wrongdoing.

On Saturday, Left-wing intellectuals addressed thousands of people at a rally in Milan to demand his resignation. “We are here to defend the honour of Italy, to remind the world that not all Italians are the same,” Umberto Eco, the author of The Name of the Rose, told the crowd.

Mr Berlusconi’s spokesman claimed the tycoon had been the victim of a biased Italian judiciary and “set-ups” in the press ever since he entered politics.

“People keep voting for us because they know that we have kept the country safe during the world’s worst economic crisis since 1929,” he said.

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Berlusconi Secures Reprieve With Tax Law and Parliament Vote on Sex Probe - Bloomberg

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government won a reprieve to stay in power and possibly avoid early elections after passing a decree to give cities more tax powers and surviving a key vote in parliament.

The Cabinet approved the decree on fiscal federalism, a priority of Berlusconi’s Northern League ally, in a late-night meeting in Rome yesterday hours after a markup of the law failed to pass in a parliamentary committee. The Cabinet’s move came after the premier won a separate vote in the Chamber of Deputies linked to an underage prostitution investigation targeting him.

“For now, we’re pushing forward,” Northern League leader Umberto Bossi said after the meeting. His party had staked its support for Berlusconi’s coalition, which has more than two years left in its term, on approval of the law implementing the tax measure.

While Berlusconi has warded off immediate political danger, he still must win approval for the decree from President Giorgio Napolitano amid opposition criticism that the legislation may be unconstitutional. Berlusconi said today he expects the president to support the decree.

Political Instability

Asked by reporters whether he anticipates “problems” with Napolitano, Berlusconi said “I hope not” at a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.

Investor concern that political instability will make it more difficult for Italy’s government to tackle Europe’s debt crisis has boosted borrowing costs. The premium investors demand to hold Italy’s 10-year bonds over comparable German debt fell five basis points today to 135 basis points, down from a euro- era high of 212 on Nov. 30 though more than twice the average of the past decade.

As he seeks to push through the tax overhaul and retain the Northern League’s support, Berlusconi also faces possible criminal charges of engaging in prostitution with a minor and abuse of office. Milan prosecutors are pressing forward with a criminal investigation into allegations that he paid for sexual relations with a 17-year-old and then helped aid her release from police custody on an unrelated charge.

Vote Victory

In the Chamber yesterday, Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party won a vote to delay action on a request by the prosecutors to search the Milan office of one his accountants, Giuseppe Spinelli, who is suspected of making payments on behalf of the premier to women who attended parties at his Milan residence.

The lower house voted 315 to 298 in favor of a motion to shift responsibility for deciding on the prosecutors’ request to a special tribunal instead of the committee originally asked for authorization. One person abstained.

Bossi said the 17-vote victory showed the government still has a “good” majority after it survived a no-confidence motion by three votes on Dec. 14. The defection of Berlusconi’s long- time ally, Gianfranco Fini, and dozens of his backers has left Berlusconi scrambling for a working majority.

Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti called the tax overhaul an “epochal” change that will help Italy to decentralize finances and reduce waste and public debt, which is Europe’s largest in nominal terms. The overhaul “is the biggest structural reform” undertaken in Italy “in decades,” he told a news conference in Rome today.

‘Unconstitutional’

Opposition members, including Chamber Deputy Speaker Rosy Bindi, said the law may be unconstitutional. “It’s extremely grave,” Bindi, a member of the Democratic Party, said in an interview yesterday on television channel LA7. “The government put out a decree that violated procedures because it didn’t take into account the view of parliament,” and Italy’s highest court may rule against it, she said.

After yesterday’s vote, responsibility for deciding on the prosecutors’ request shifts to a special tribunal instead of the committee initially asked to permit the search. Milan Prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati said two days ago he will file a request as soon as Feb. 7 for the start of the trial.

Berlusconi has said he’s willing to be questioned by prosecutors on the condition that the trial is moved to the tribunal of ministers, citing an alleged bias against him by the Milan court. The three-judge tribunal oversees cases against senior government ministers.

The probe, known as Rubygate after the nickname of the young woman at its center, hasn’t further eroded voter support for Berlusconi and his coalition, according to a poll released this week by IPR Marketing. Berlusconi’s popularity held at 35 percent last month, matching the lowest level since his re- election in 2008, the survey of 1,000 adults showed.

To contact the reporters on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson in Rome at fjackson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

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Berlusconi passes tax changes, ignoring parliament - Reuters

By Giuseppe Fonte

ROME | Thu Feb 3, 2011 5:33pm EST

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet on Thursday approved tax reforms that had been rejected by a special parliamentary panel, sparking outrage from the opposition who accused Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of riding roughshod over parliament.

The decision to approve the package to raise the taxation powers of town councils underscored the growing strength of the Northern League, Berlusconi's main coalition partner which had threatened to withdraw its support if the measures were blocked.

Pierluigi Bersani, leader of the largest opposition Democratic party, said it was "an unbearable slap in the face to parliament," while the centrist UDC called it "a vulgar and arrogant step which is totally illegal under the constitution."

The eagerly awaited vote of the 30-member parliamentary panel resulted in a 15-15 tie, dealing a setback to Berlusconi.

The vote of the committee on federalism, made up of lawmakers from both houses of parliament, was not formally binding, but it was widely considered that the centre-right government would have to take its verdict into account.

But after a hastily convened evening cabinet meeting, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi announced in a brief statement that the tax measures had been "definitively passed."

"The League keeps its promises and brings home a concrete result in the interests of the people," he said.

Bossi, who has the power to bring down the government, has promised his supporters a deal on the package aimed at increasing local autonomy and cutting subsidies from the prosperous north to the poorer south.

Ahead of the panel ruling, he said new elections would be needed if the measures were not approved, but the party's leadership has been divided over what approach to take and he appeared to backtrack later.

Following a second vote on Thursday, when deputies rejected a search request by magistrates investigating allegations against Berlusconi of having sex with an underage prostitute, Bossi put off any suggestion of early elections. "The numbers are good, for now we'll carry on," he told reporters.

SCANDAL

Ever since Berlusconi's former ally Gianfranco Fini split from the ruling PDL party in July, the League has held the fate of the government in its hands and its importance has only risen after the sex scandal that has engulfed the 74-year-old premier.

Berlusconi has resisted calls to resign over the scandal that has made a household name of "Ruby," the teenage nightclub dancer he is alleged to have paid for sex while she was under 18, the earliest legal age for prostitution in Italy.

He denies the accusations and received some backing on Thursday, when the lower house voted against letting magistrates search his accountant's offices, a result which helped swing Bossi against a move for early elections.

Berlusconi already faces two trials over tax fraud allegations in coming weeks in addition to the prostitution scandal, which prosecutors are also seeking to bring to court.

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