Waiter says Priapus statue at Berlusconi dinner 'a joke'
Ex-premier had him remove phallic representation after 20 mins
25 January, 14:54
(ANSA) - Milan, January 25 - A waiter working for
ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi told a Milan court on Friday that
the much-discussed statue of the fertility god Priapus that was
reportedly passed around at an August 2010 dinner party held by
Berlusconi was just a "rude joke" that he had given his employer
in 2010.Lorenzo Brunamonti told the court at the so-called Ruby prostitution procurement trial on Friday that he was responsible for bringing the statue to the table during dinner parties and that he was sorry "for all of the trouble created by a silly sophomoric prank".
"I thought it would be funny. After about 20 minutes, Berlusconi asked me to take it away," Brunamonti said.
The trial, dubbed Ruby-2, involving retired TV anchorman and close Berlusconi friend Emilio Fede, bankrupt ex-talent scout Lele Mora and ex-Lombardy regional councillor and the ex-premier's former dental hygienist Nicole Minetti, is being held in Milan for the alleged procurement of prostitutes, including underage ones, in connection with alleged sex parties hosted by Berlusconi.
Witnesses at previous trials have testified that girls passed round a statuette of the ancient god marked by his absurdly oversized, permanent erection and mimed oral sex with it at the former premier's so-called 'bunga bunga' parties.
"I got it on a trip to Angola because it was a metaphor for the bunga-bunga joke about cannibals in Africa," Brunamonti said.
"It has been spoken of so much as a sex object, but I got it just as a gag," he said.
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