‘Bunga bunga’ parties were dignified soirees, say Berlusconi’s lawyers

LONDON - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s lawyers have claimed that his parties were not wild “bunga bunga” orgies but gentle soirees where modestly dressed young women sipped mineral water and watched movies.

As counter-attack to the allegations laid out by prosecutors over 616 pages citing various models and showgirls who attended the parties, Berlusconi’s lawyers have interviewed 29 witnesses who give a very different account, reports the Telegraph.

According to a dossier of evidence compiled by the Prime Minister’s lawyers, the pals and allies of Berlusconi have collectively presented a squeaky-clean image of the private parties he held at his Villa San Martino mansion at Arcore, outside Milan.

They presented their dossier to parliament on Tuesday as a riposte to a 389-page dossier compiled by magistrates in Milan. In return prosecutors presented another 227 pages of evidence.

The witnesses’ testimony will form the basis of Berlusconi’s defence if, as prosecutors have demanded, he is sent to trial on charges of paying for sex with an under age prostitute and trying to conceal the liaisons by abusing his office. All charges he denies.

The list of witnesses includes members of Berlusconi’s security staff, MPs from his ruling People of Freedom Party, his personal doctor and physiotherapist, a Neapolitan singer with whom he has made CDs of sentimental ballads, and showgirls.

They claim that Berlusconi’s parties involved nothing racier than watching football games involving his club, AC Milan, and drinking Coca Cola and modest quantities of wine and Champagne. There was no sex, no under-age girls and certainly no prostitutes. (ANI)