Tuesday, 17 September 2013. On the eve of a vote over Silvio Berlusconi's eviction from the Senate of Italy, the Supreme court confirms his family's company has to pay over 500m euro in damages to media rival CIR, owned by De Benedetti family.
Silvio Berlusconi: seeing it coming?
Italy Supreme Court's ruling hasn't been very favourable to Silvio Berlusconi recently, after upholding accusations of tax fraud in the beginning of August, yesterday the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (this is the official name of the court of last resort in Italy) ruled that Berlusconi family’s Fininvest holding company had wrongfully gained control of Mondadori publishing house by bribing a judge (Vittorio Metta is his name) back in 1991, thus they have to pay more than half a million euro to De Benedettis' CIR.
Monday, 8 July 2013. Italian online magazine Panorama.it mistakes the New Yorker's weekly satirical blog "The Borowitz Report" for a trustworthy source, as it divulges Silvio Berlusconi's intentions to run for NYC office.
As Andy Borowitz wrote on his blog “former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today that he was considering running for office in New York City” the Berlusconi owned Panorama could not resist and reported the fake news as reliable, apparently.
That might have been the reason why Silvio Berlusconi had been practicing English, in the past.
The idea came from the news that Silvio Berlusconi could be banned from public office by a recent sentence coming from the Rubygate trial, a proceeding where the former prime minister was found guilty of abusing of child prostitution and his powers as prime minister (in both instances Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug – also known as Ruby the Heartstealer - was primarily involved, but many other women had been involved in the so-called bunga-bunga parties at Silvio's villa in Arcore).
Tue, 25 June 2013. As Silvio Berlusconi is sentenced to seven years in jail and ban from holding public office prison (for having had sex with a under-age prostitute and having tried to deceive a bunch of policemen about her identity, with a prank phone call) the Italian judiciary is keeping by five more judicial trials for the former PM of Italy. Not all of them involving women.
One of the rare occasions when Silvio Berlusconi showed up in court
Silvio Berlusconi has barely time to swallow the heavy sentence given by Milan's magistrates (they took seriously prosecutor's theory about Silvio being the head of a prostitution ring, didn't they?), that he will need a bit of luck and concentration to dodge the incoming threats from the judiciary, a gymkhana (since Silvio reckon it's a war, he might prefer to call a campaign) of proceedings starting already... tomorrow!
Monday,
December 31, 2012. Giving an interview to Rome's Radio Capital,
Silvio Berlusconi says that gays “are funny”. It's not the first time the former prime minister speaks his mind about homosexuality.
Berlusconi: new look with Borsalino hat
Silvio
Berlusconi has not much time, less than two months, to run his
one-man-band campaign, before general election will be held in Italy
on 24 and 25 February 2013, so he needs to appear on media on a daily
basis, free-wheel speaking about almost anything.
Thursday,
December 20, 2012. Silvio Berlusconi-s owned gossip magazine attempts
to delegitimize a magistrate looking into sex-scandal trial by
denigrate her socks. It's not the first time they resort to this
extreme measure, Italian judges should pay more attention to the
colour of their socks, experts say.
Ilda Boccassini doing work
The
prosecutor in charge of the Rubygate – a case in which Silvio
Berlusconi is indicted for having given money to under-age Karima el
Mahroug (aka Ruby the Heart Stealer) – has appeared on a photo
shoot on Berlusconi's Mondadori-owned “Chi” weekly magazine, a
gossip newspaper.
Judge
Ilda Boccassini is an old enemy of Berlusconi's, since she took over
the place of Antonio Di Pietro, back in 1994, in the “Mani pulite”
(“Clean hands”) investigation.
Silvio and Ilda met up in several occasions, since.
Ilda Boccassini doing shopping
The
gossip weekly portrays the judge as she goes shopping in the centre
of Milan, adding captions in order to deride the magistrate. A list
of her cloths is published, where “multi-coloured striped wool
socks”, costing 21 euro, are exhibited and undrlined in order –
somehow – to belittle the judge. Another photo shows Ilda
Boccassini dropping the butt of a cigarette to the ground. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and Rai3 news service accused the media outlet of "hounding" the judge.
A similar technique was used by Canale5 broadcaster staff in 2009, when they hounded judge Raimondo Mesiano, who ordered to Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest to pay 750 million euro (£612m) to Carlo De Benedetti's – arch-enemy of The Knight – CIR, as a compensation in the frame of the Lodo Mondadori, a battle between the two Italian entrepreneurs following the acquisition of publisher Arnoldo Mondadori Editore by Fininvest. Mr Mesiano was followed by the broadcaster's men, his turquoise-coloured socks were exposed as a major offence.
Ruby rebuilding her virginity with Chi's Alfonso Signorini
By the
way, the weekly magazine we started this post with is owned by
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA (company chaired by Silvio's daughter,
Maria Elvira Berlusconi, commonly known as Marina Berlusconi). The paper is also
known for having published topless photos of Kate Middleton earlier
this year, and a picture of prnicess Diana, taken as she was dying,
after a car accident on 31 August 1997. The Director of “Chi”,
Alfonso Signorini, was in charge also when Mediaset (on Canale 5's Kalispéra TV show) tried to prove that Ruby the Heart Stealer was – in reality – a
kind of vocational nun, not a prostitute.
Tuesday,
November 20, 2012. It turns out the Giuseppe Spinelli, the so-called
Berlusconi's cashier, was rapidly kidnapped and release on the 15 October, on an attempt to obtain a ransom.
71-year-old Giuseppe Spinelli, Berlusconi's accountant
Giuseppe
Spinelli is on of the most trustworthy member of Silvio Berlusconi's team,
he was in charge of paying out allowances and rent for the so-called
Olgettine, a bunch of young women (currently Elisa Toti, Aris
Espinoza, Ioana Visan, Marysthelle Polanco and Eleonora De Vivo)
recruited by former councillor Nicole Minetti. The former Italian
prime minister of Italy is taking care of the beauties, habitué on
bunga-bunga parties (details in our post “Silvio Berlusconi and the bunga bunga army”).
On
the night of the 15th of October Mr Spinelly and his wife
apparently were kidnapped and detained in they very home, for 11
hours, by a gang of criminals, lead by a native of Bari wearing a
black and red (AC Milan colours) shoes, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
Friday, 1 September 2011 (Saint Giles). Silvio Berlusconi confesses he thinks Italy is a “shitty country” and vows to leave the country “that sickens him”. It might be a mutual feeling.
Though many Italians thinks Italy is not such a hospitable place to live in (and many have already left, for a reason or another), few of them thinks it's a “shitty“ country.
