Berlusconi blames feminist, communist judges for his woes
ROME: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday slammed a panel of three “feminist and communist” female judges for ruling that he owed his estranged wife € 200 000 ($260,000) per day as part of a divorce settlement.
Last month the newspaper Corriere della Sera said the divorce ruling had been deposited before Christmas, and that Berlusconi, 76, had been ordered to pay Veronica Lario about € 100 000 per day. It was the first time Berlusconi had commented publicly on the settlement.
He did not elaborate on the figure and it was not clear whether he might be including back payments that have fallen due since the separation.
“They ordered me to pay € 200 000 a day, and this says a lot about who the Milan judges are,” Berlusconi said.
“They are three feminist and communist judges.”
He said Milan’s judges had been persecuting him since 1994 because they opposed him politically. In October, a Milan court sentenced him to four years in jail for tax fraud, against which he plans to appeal.
He is currently on trial for having sex with an under-age prostitute.
Lario filed for divorce from the tycoon in 2009, accusing him of flirting with a 17-yearold girl.
Berlusconi said he was appealing against the ruling. He also said he might be able to renegotiate amicably with Lario because his current relationship with her was “excellent”.– Reuters