Berlusconi faces probe over naked party photos

The controversy surrounding parties hosted by Silvio Berlusconi at his villa in Sardinia took a new turn yesterday when the Italian prime minister admitted he was the subject of an inquiry into the misuse of public funds.

Berlusconi hoped his lawyers had saved his blushes by having 300 photographs seized by prosecutors after a complaint of invasion of privacy. As reported by The First Post, these photos, taken by paparazzo Antonello Zappadu with a long lens outside his villa, include scenes from parties attended by Noemi Letizia, an aspiring model whose 18th birthday party Berlusconi attended.

Unfortunately for Berlusconi, five photos had already been sold to Spanish newpaper El Pais and were published today. Among the five are pictures of topless women cavorting around the villa and a photograph of then Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek naked by the swimming pool. Berlusconi has threatened to sue the newspaper.

Not among the published photos, but no less explosive, is a seemingly innocuous picture of Berlusconi's favourite singer-songwriter Mariano Apicella (above left with Berlusconi) disembarking from the prime minister's official plane at Sardinia's Olbia airport. After a complaint from a taxpayers' association, prosecutors have extended their investigation to include a possible charge of misuse of public funds against Berlusconi.

Berlusconi defended himself in a TV interview, saying, "There is a precise regulation allowing the prime minister to take people with him at nil cost." However, the regulation took effect in August last year – three months after the flight in question. This does not appear to worry Berlusconi who says the investigation will be "swiftly shelved".

So far, the speculation over what went on with the naked girls at Berlusconi's villa has done little harm to him in opinion polls. Of greater concern to the media tycoon may be a war that appears to be brewing between him and Rupert Murdoch. Berlusconi has complained that a series of damaging articles in the Times of London is due to the fact that his government doubled the VAT on pay TV stations in Italy to 20 per cent.

As the owner of Sky Italia, Murdoch controls around 90 per cent of the pay-TV market, while Berlusconi, with Mediaset, controls three terrestrial channels not subject to VAT. Berlusconi told his own Canale 5 TV station, "I don't mean to be nasty, but unfortunately with the episode on VAT for Sky there was a breakdown in relations with… Murdoch's group."