Berlusconi: prostitution thrived at his homes, his private life is “bewildering”, according to judge

Saturday, 28 April 2014. Publishing the motivations of a conviction related to the bunga-bunga parties, a Court in Bari defines Silvio Berlusconi's private life as “bewildering” and states that “beyond a formal appearance of elegant dinners” there was ”a thriving prostitution” orchestrated by Gianpaolo Tarantini for the benefit of the former Italian prime minister.

Gianpaolo Tarantini – a man linked to Mr Berlusconi's, for good and for bad – founded a real “recruitment agency” for women offering services consisting in “sexual performances”, according to the judge Ambrogio Marrone, linked to the so-called bunga-bunga parties held in the Arcore's villa of the Italian billionaire, or in his residence in Rome, Palazzo Grazioli.

Gianpaolo Tarantini (with his wife), the main supplier of women for Berlusconi

The payments for the above mentioned services were called alternatively “envelope”, “gift”, “cachet” or “token”, and were handed over to the girls directly by Silvio Berlusconi, usually on the day of the departure of the call girls, the day after the «sexual encounters, occurred the night before, with the women on duty». 

Berlusconi: attacking the Germans to stand as the saviour of his country seems to be the only tactic to convince Italians to vote for Forza Italia

Saturday, 26 April 2014. While presenting his ailing centre-right Forza Italia party's candidates for the European Parliament elections, Mr Berlusconi seizes the opportunity to show off his abilities to attacks the Germans (in order to hide his weaknesses).

Following his usual MO, Italy's Berlusconi waited the right moment, when the media was listening, to put forward the couple of arguments he managed to pull together for the European elections campaign: accusing – right out of the blue – the Germans to deny the death camps, and recalling an old act of his, when he attacked German MEP Martin Schulz, now a candidate in the incoming elections. 

Everybody's enjoying Silvio Berlusconi's  wisecracks, at Forza Italia press conference
(from ANSA video)

Mentioning the 2003 incident, Mr Berlusconi said he didn't want to offend Schulz (which is evidently untrue), and then added that “according to the Germans, concentration camps never existed.” (which is evidently a lie), in an attempt to please the protest voters, which are expected to show up at European elections, but are unlikely to vote for the re-founded Forza Italia's party (and who are likely to cast they vote in favour of former comedian Beppe Grillo and his Five-Star Movement). 

Berlusconi: here's what he can do and what he can't do during his term as a social worker

Wednesday, 23 April 2014. As Mr Berlusconi signs Milan's Surveillance Court prescriptions' document regarding his term as a social worker, becomes clear to him what he is allowed to do and what he isn't.

Silvio Berlusconi will serve his sentence for tax fraud by helping in at Sacra Famiglia (Sacred Family) elderly people’s home in Cesano Boscone (east of Milan, about 25 miles away from his villa in Arcore), where he signed a documents detailing the term.

You choose the sentence for Silvio Berlusconi, a game by to The Guardian

There are 12 prescriptions in the document, and the former prime minister of Italy can't really complain, as the house arrest – which was one of the options on the table – would have involve more constrictions than his job as a social worker, 4 hours a week.