Plagued by media reports over his relationships with prostitutes and teenagers, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, on Friday sought to silence his critics with a raft of lawsuits against at least three newspapers in Italy, France and Spain.
The media tycoon’s lawyer and member of parliament, Niccolo Ghedini, revealed on Friday that lawsuits had been filed abroad against Nouvel Observateur, a French weekly, for an article headlined “Sex, Power and Lies”, and against Spain’s El Pais for publishing pictures of guests, some naked, at the prime minister’s private villa in Sardinia.
Lawyers were also looking at suing in London. Mr Berlusconi has lashed out at Rupert Murdoch, his media rival, over articles probing his private life. Suing for defamation in the UK would be a first for Mr Berlusconi, who has preferred to use Italian courts for his frequent lawsuits. His only case so far against a foreign correspondent – David Lane of the Economist – was rejected by an Italian judge.
Mr Berlusconi’s private life hit the front pages in early May when his actress wife, Veronica Lario, accused him of “frequenting minors” and asked for a divorce. The prime minister has denied anything untoward in his relationship with an 18-year-old from Naples, but was then hit by revelations of parties with prostitutes hired by a businessman under investigation for corruption.
The prime minister is exempt from prosecution in general under an immunity law passed by parliament a year ago when he returned to office.
The main thorn in the side of the 72-year-old premier has been La Repubblica, Italy’s biggest centre-left daily which revealed that it was being sued for defamation over 10 questions it had frequently posed in print to Mr Berlusconi over his scandals.
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