Italy's Berlusconi attacked after rally
Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:50 pm
ROME (AFP) – A man beat up Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after a raucous political rally on Sunday, leaving him with a bloodied face and forced to spend the night in hospital.
Aides bundled the 73-year-old media tycoon into a car and rushed him to hospital in Milan where he will stay for 24 hours, media reports said.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency as he left the emergency room.
Police immediately arrested a man who was taken to the local headquarters. ANSA said the suspect had a 10-year history of mental health problems and that his psychotherapist was summoned to the police station.
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, who was near Berlusconi at the time of the attack, said the prime minister was bleeding from the mouth and nose. ANSA quoted medical officials as saying Berlusconi lost two teeth.
Berlusconi's spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, told the Sky TG-24 news channel that the prime minister's doctor would not give a bulletin until Monday.
About 10 people jeered Berlusconi at the political rally, calling him a "clown" while he shouted "shame on you" back at them and the sound system was turned up to drown them out.
Police intervened after scuffles between the hecklers and security staff, but it was not immediately known whether there was a link between the incidents and the attack.
Berlusconi was the victim of a similar attack several years ago in Rome when a young man hit him with a camera tripod cutting his head.
He has come under increasing pressure in recent months over his private life and business affairs. On Friday he dismissed accusations of Mafia ties made by a turncoat criminal at an Italian court this month as "a farce".
Berlusconi, who began his third stint as prime minister in May last year, said he would not bow to pressure to go to the polls early.
A series of allegations about his private life this year led to his wife, Veronica Lario, to file for divorce.
Lario, 53, is seeking 43 million euros (65 million dollars) a year in a divorce settlement, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said.
Already upset over her husband's reported dalliances with younger women, Lario felt the last straw came in April when he attended the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, whose relationship with the prime minister has been the subject of months of intrigue.
His penchant for controversial public statements has added to the political pressure.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the centre of Rome against Berlusconi on December 5, responding to an Internet call for a "No Berlusconi Day".
Italy's top court in October quashed an amnesty law that would have benefitted the three-time prime minister who faces a series of corruption charges.
On Friday in Milan, one corruption trial in which Berlusconi is accused was adjourned until January 15.
The prime minister faces allegations that he paid his British former tax lawyer, David Mills, 600,000 dollars to give false evidence in two trials in the 1990s.
Mills, who was tried separately, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail over the case in February.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091213/ts ... berlusconi" target="_blank
Aides bundled the 73-year-old media tycoon into a car and rushed him to hospital in Milan where he will stay for 24 hours, media reports said.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency as he left the emergency room.
Police immediately arrested a man who was taken to the local headquarters. ANSA said the suspect had a 10-year history of mental health problems and that his psychotherapist was summoned to the police station.
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, who was near Berlusconi at the time of the attack, said the prime minister was bleeding from the mouth and nose. ANSA quoted medical officials as saying Berlusconi lost two teeth.
Berlusconi's spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, told the Sky TG-24 news channel that the prime minister's doctor would not give a bulletin until Monday.
About 10 people jeered Berlusconi at the political rally, calling him a "clown" while he shouted "shame on you" back at them and the sound system was turned up to drown them out.
Police intervened after scuffles between the hecklers and security staff, but it was not immediately known whether there was a link between the incidents and the attack.
Berlusconi was the victim of a similar attack several years ago in Rome when a young man hit him with a camera tripod cutting his head.
He has come under increasing pressure in recent months over his private life and business affairs. On Friday he dismissed accusations of Mafia ties made by a turncoat criminal at an Italian court this month as "a farce".
Berlusconi, who began his third stint as prime minister in May last year, said he would not bow to pressure to go to the polls early.
A series of allegations about his private life this year led to his wife, Veronica Lario, to file for divorce.
Lario, 53, is seeking 43 million euros (65 million dollars) a year in a divorce settlement, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said.
Already upset over her husband's reported dalliances with younger women, Lario felt the last straw came in April when he attended the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia, whose relationship with the prime minister has been the subject of months of intrigue.
His penchant for controversial public statements has added to the political pressure.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the centre of Rome against Berlusconi on December 5, responding to an Internet call for a "No Berlusconi Day".
Italy's top court in October quashed an amnesty law that would have benefitted the three-time prime minister who faces a series of corruption charges.
On Friday in Milan, one corruption trial in which Berlusconi is accused was adjourned until January 15.
The prime minister faces allegations that he paid his British former tax lawyer, David Mills, 600,000 dollars to give false evidence in two trials in the 1990s.
Mills, who was tried separately, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail over the case in February.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091213/ts ... berlusconi" target="_blank
