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Bunga-bunga’s back: new trial looms for Berlusconi

Scandal-hit Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is to go on trial for allegedly paying a witness to give false testimony about his notorious parties.

Bunga-bunga's back: new trial looms for Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi speaks on the set of the broadcast "Porta a Porta", a programme of Italian channel Rai 1, on January 11th, 2018. Photo: AFP

A judge in southern city Bari on Friday set the first hearing in the witness tampering trial for February 4, 2019.

The case dates back to 2008-2009 when young and ambitious businessman Giampolo Tarantini brought escort girls to parties at Berlusconi's residences in Rome and Sardini

Tarantini is currently appealing an eight-year sentence for procuring prostitutes for Berlusconi.

The billionaire former premier is accused of having paid Tarantini to keep quiet about the more salacious details of his parties.

READ ALSO: Silvio Berlusconi: Italy's eternal comeback king

Prosecutors say that Berlusconi provided Tarantini with “hundreds of thousands of euros, legal assistance and a job” so that he would lie in court.

Berlusconi is already being investigated or prosecuted for witness tampering in Milan, Sienna, Rome and Turin, each time for allegedly paying people to keep quiet about his so-called 'bunga-bunga' parties.

The media magnate has never denied making the payments, but said they were to help “somebody or a family with children that was in serious financial difficulty”.

“We are confident that after the trial opens Mr Berlusconi will quickly be acquitted,” Berlusconi's lawyer Nicolo Ghedini was quoted as telling the Repubblica newspaper.

Berlusconi was ousted in November 2011 following a parliamentary revolt against his increasingly scandal-tainted rule and a wave of panic on the financial markets that pushed Italy to the brink of default.

READ ALSO: Italy court lifts ban on Berlusconi running for public office

TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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