Berlusconi says rumors of sex with minors 'crazy' in wiretap

(ANSA) - Bari, March 5 - Three-time Premier Silvio Berlusconi said press reports claiming he had sex with minors were ''crazy'' in wiretapped phone conversations with businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini dating back to 2009.
    The wiretaps were made public Thursday in a trial in the southern city of Bari.
    Hundreds of pages of phone transcripts from 2008 and 2009 released on Thursday are part of evidence in the trial in Bari which sees Tarantini and six other defendants charged with procuring prostitutes for the ex-premier's alleged sex parties.
    Berlusconi is accused of bribing Tarantini to lie to investigators probing the former premier's alleged sex parties, allegedly including minors.
    In the tapped conversations, Berlusconi told Tarantini that the allegations were ''fabrications'' but also spoke of ''girls'' he wished were taken to one of parties, referring to a young sports journalist at his Mediaset company and to a 21-year-old Brazilian woman.
    He also slammed reports that he was presenting TV starlets as election candidates for his Forza Italia party, praising female party members as ''the best MPs'' in parliament.
    ''There is no showgirl in my list'', he lamented with Tarantini. ''I am always full of trouble'', he complained in another conversation with Tarantini, saying the media and judiciary were out to get him.
    ''There is nothing I can do, I can only endure everything'', he said.
    Berlusconi and former Avanti newspaper editor Valter Lavitola are charged with pressuring Tarantini to perjure himself during the 2009 investigation into whether he provided escorts and attractive women for alleged sex parties in the private home of the ex-premier and billionaire media magnate in 2008 and 2009.
    Prosecutors believe Berlusconi used Lavitola to pay Tarantini 20,000 euros a month to keep quiet.
    A Milan appeals court last July cleared Berlusconi of paying for sex with an underage prostitute during sex parties, saying there was no proof he knew the prostitute was 17 at the time.