La Repubblica's inquiry into the leader's friendship with a young model has divided Italy and provoked a right-wing backlash.
For a man who controls almost half of Italy's television stations, Silvio Berlusconi has become remarkably exercised by the activities of a single daily newspaper. When recently riled by another bout of questioning on his notorious visit to the birthday party of a teenage model, Noemi Letizia, the Italian prime minister jabbed his finger repeatedly at the correspondent from La Repubblica who had dared to pose it.
"Shame on you!" Berlusconi hissed. "The Italians are with me!", he added, tapping his own chest proudly before storming out of the room, followed by his bodyguards.
It is now 10 days since the left-leaning La Repubblica first published 10 questions for Berlusconi about his expedition last month to the 18th birthday party thrown in a Naples suburb for Letizia, who commonly refers to Berlusconi as "daddy". Days later his second wife, Veronica Lario, asked for a divorce.
Curious about inconsistencies in Berlusconi's account of how he knew Letizia's father, and by Letizia's suggestion that Berlusconi was grooming her for politics, La Repubblica sent the prime minister a list of questions such as: "Is it true that you promised Noemi you would help her career in show business or in politics?" It also asked for details of the prime minister's previous meetings with her.
CONTINUE ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/24/silvio-berlusconi-la-repubblica-inquiry
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento