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Italian PM punched

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Every Breaking Wave

Every Breaking Wave

Religion is a club
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AFP said:
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.
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My only complaint is that the media felt it was necessary to push the video cameras at his bleeding face and do extreme closeups. I mean, it's not that I care about how Berlusconi felt at the moment, I don't like the guy, but man, that was a lot of bleeding there. Could've at least put a warning before they aired this stuff on TV.

That said? Ow. There are very few people who deserve to have a statuette hurled at their face, and even crazy Italian politicians with a penchant for barely legal models don't go on that short list.
 
He had blood all round his mouth. I lol'd
 
While I despise Berlusconi, I also despise using violence to promote whatever your views are. So naturally, this is an act that should not happen, no matter how much asshole you are.

The thing I'm reacting is that some allies of Berlusconi is calling this terrorism. Surely, if I were to go and punch someone in the street, it would have been bad, but not an act of terror. I doubt they would have said that if a member of the opposition had been attacked.
 
They tried to make Skoni out of Berlusconi.
 
Misty said:
Yeah, Berlusconi is a creep, but this kind of thing is only likely to help him, not hurt him.
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Surprisingly, that is quite true. @3@

Oh well heard that on the radio, but his discreet dealings are quite well known already.

Heck his immunity was stripped by the Italian Constitutional Court. XD
 
Netto Azure said:
Surprisingly, that is quite true. @3@

Oh well heard that on the radio, but his discreet dealings are quite well known already.

Heck his immunity was stripped by the Italian Constitutional Court. XD
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AND his wife's asking for a divorce.

2009 just isn't a very good year for Berlusconi.
 
revolvingscott said:
I LIKE HIM, SHAME UPON THAT MAN!
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You like Berlusconi? In my mind, he's the most unfit elected official in all of Europe I've heard of. When he's even trying to get himself diplomatic immunity, you know he's done something wrong.

Berlusconi is going to play on this event, I believe.
 
fate said:
OH ITALIAN POLITICIANS, YOU SO CRAZY
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Took the words right out of my mouth.
Why did none of Bush's supporters mention Berlusconi when people criticised Bush.
'Yeah, he sent the troops to Iraq for no reason, but at least he's not dating a model.'
 
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