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Berlusconi refuses to resign, dismisses protest



Protesters gather in Rome's Piazza del Popolo to demonstrate against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi February 13, 2011. Berlusconi said on Monday he had no intention of stepping down and dismissed a weekend demonstration by thousands of women across Italy over his involvement in a sex scandal. Credit: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi

ROME | Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:33pm IST

ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Monday he had no intention of stepping down and dismissed a weekend demonstration by thousands of women across Italy over his involvement in a sex scandal.

Hundreds of thousands of women took part in rallies on Sunday to defend their dignity and protest over the underage prostitution scandal that has rocked the 74 year-old prime minister's centre-right government.

The billionaire media entrepreneur told his Canale 5 network the protests were the work of his political opponents and denied that he disrespects women.

"I saw the usual factional forces mobilised against me by a certain section of the left which uses any pretext to beat an adversary whom they can't manage to beat at the polls," he told a morning programme.

"All women who have had the opportunity to get to know me, know how much I respect them. I have always behaved and I always behave with great care and great respect, both in my companies and in my government."

"I have always tried to act in such a way that every woman feels special," he said. Sunday's protests included several leading figures from the opposition centre-left and many conservative middle-aged women, a group which has traditionally supported him.

Berlusconi said the government would not resign over the affair, potentially opening the way for new elections. "There is a lot of confusion but I have very clear ideas. The interest of the country is to have a stable government which carries on with its programme with determination," he said.

Milan prosecutors have requested that Berlusconi face trial over accusations that he paid for sex with a girl below the age of 18 -- an offence in Italy -- and that he improperly pressured police to release her from custody over theft allegations.

A decision on whether to accept the request is expected early this week.
Using material obtained from investigators' wiretaps, newspapers have splashed lurid accounts of "bunga bunga" sex parties involving dozens of young women at Berlusconi's private villa near Milan.

Berlusconi has never hidden his fondness for the company of young women but denies doing anything illegal and his lawyers have produced witness statements saying that the events at his villa were no more than convivial dinner parties.

"The Milan prosecutors' office and the media in contrast has trampled on the dignity of my guests, exposing them to public scorn without any reason or regard for them and trampling on the truth," Berlusconi said. "It's really a disgrace, a big disgrace."

(Writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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This combo image made of two recent file pictures shows Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) at Villa Madama in Rome and Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer in a nightclub. Italian prosecutors on February 15, 2011 requested that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi be put on trial immediately for abuse of power and having sex with an underage girl nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer.

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Nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug of Morocco poses during a photocall at the Karma disco in Milan, in this November 14, 2010 file photo. An Italian judge ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on February 15, 2011, on charges that include paying el Mahroug, whose stage name is Ruby, for sex. Prosecutors say they have ample evidence that Berlusconi paid el Mahroug for sex when she was 17 years old -- an offence in Italy. She denies having sex with Berlusconi.

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Activists from the women's rights organization "Femen" shout slogans and wave placards during a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in front of Italy's embassy in Kiev February 14, 2011

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Activists of Ukrainian womens' movement FEMEN shout during their protest action 'Italia is not bordello' in front of the Italian embassy in Kiev on February 14, 2011. The young Ukrainians support thousands of Italian women in their protests at 'degrading' media coverage of the recent sex scandals surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.




Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

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Activists of Ukrainian womens' movement FEMEN gesture from a police van on February 14, 2011 after being arrested during a protest, called 'Italiy is not a brothel,' in front of the Italian Embassy in Kiev. The Ukrainian femenists came to show their support for the hundreds of thousand of Italian women who protested on February 13 against the distorted image of Italian women generated by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's numerous sex scandals.


Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi covers his face during a vote of confidence at the Senate in Rome in this file picture taken May 15, 2008. An Italian judge ordered Berlusconi to stand trial on February 15, 2011, on charges that include paying an underage girl for sex.

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A massive demonstration was organized 13/02/2011 by women to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a return to greater dignity in politics. Rome, Italy.

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People march against Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi during a protest in Rome Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011. Thousands of women turned out in 200 Italian cities to denounce what they say is Berlusconi's debasing of females. Prosecutors want to try Berlusconi for allegedly paying a 17-year-old Moroccan girl for sex. Paying for prostitution with a minor is a crime in Italy. Berlusconi and the teenager have denied the allegation.

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A protester wears a pig nose and a placard combing 'Hardcore' with Arcore where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lives, at Rome's Piazza del Popolo, People's square, during a demonstration called 'if not now, when?' organized by Italian women in protest at 'degrading' media coverage of the recent sex scandals surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- and attitudes to women in general on February 13, 2011. Thousands of women were demonstrating all across Italy in the wake of weeks of lurid reporting on the women at the centre of investigations into the embattled leader -- and Berlusconi's own controversial comments in his defence.

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Sister Eugenia Bonelli talks against Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi during a protest in Rome Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011.

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Protesters gather at Rome's Piazza del Popolo, People's square, during a demonstration called 'if not now, when?' organized by Italian women in protest at 'degrading' media coverage of the recent sex scandals surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- and attitudes to women in general on February 13, 2011.

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Thousands of women and men demonstrated yesterday in Palermo together with 1 million people in other Italian cities to defend the dignity of all people and to say 'stop' to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Palermo, Italy. 13/02/2011

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Women's movement FEMEN hold a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in which they shed their underwear, at the Italian Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. 14/02/2011

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Protesters gather at Rome's Piazza del Popolo, People's square, during a demonstration called 'if not now, when?' organized by Italian women in protest at 'degrading' media coverage of the recent sex scandals surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- and attitudes to women in general on February 13, 2011.

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