Italy's Berlusconi Has Stepped on Too Many Toes
And on Saturday, up to 300,000 Italians showed their condemnation of the prime minister's contempt of press freedom and freedom of expression.
Italy's press freedom forces are telling PM Berlusconi the
party is over (EPA photo)
And the last straw in this spaghetti western proved to be the coverage by Italian and other European media outlets of Silvio Berlusconi's infamous private parties, including alleged participation of prostitutes.
The prime minister —who also happens to control an overwhelming part of Italy's media, including 90 percent of TV channels— charged back by taking all those critical outlets to court, including some in France and Spain.
Mr Berlusconi denies he paid anyone to sleep with him, and is suing the left-leaning Italian newspapers La Repubblica and L'Unita, as well as others in France and Spain.
"We ask the prime minister to stop the campaign of accusations against journalists and to tell the truth," Franco Siddi, head of the Italian Press Federation, told the noisy crowd in Rome's central Piazza del Popolo on Saturday.
The media tycoon/prime minister has been brushing off the accusations by saying Italy's media is freer than any other in the Western World. But international experts dare to differ. Reporters without Borders (RSF) says it is about to consider Berlusconi "predator of press freedom" and says it's very likely RSF's latest index will consider Italy as the least free country in the European Union.
Berlusconi's critics, and also his supporters, will have plenty of talking points to bring up at Wednesday's plenary session of the European Parliament, which is scheduled to deal with this matter.
This is our take: in a free press atmosphere, you cannot be a party involved and the judge at the same time. And Berlusconi is both.
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