Berlusconi calls Grillo a 'killer'

(ANSA) - Rome, May 20 - Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday called Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), a "killer" as the political venom ahead of Sunday's European elections reached a new high. Berlusconi was referring to Grillo's 1980 manslaughter conviction for a car accident in which he was the driver and three people died.
    Grillo has never stood personally in elections because he says people with criminal records should not be in parliament, although he is still the undisputed leader of the M5S from outside the buildings of power.
    The comedian-turned-politician has been brutally critical of three-time premier Berlusconi, who was ejected from parliament last year and is currently doing community after a definitive tax-fraud conviction last year, over his many judicial problems.
    Berlusconi has hit back hard at Grillo - whose stated aim is to destroy the current party system that he blames for corruption and economic decline - comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
    But Tuesday's reference to the manslaughter conviction takes the row to a new level.
    "He is an expert at not entering prison after killing three friends," said Berlusconi.
    "He is convicted for multiple manslaughter, he has a criminal record and he avoided prison. So he shouldn't go back to these issues," added the 77-year-old billionaire, whose opposition centre-right Forza Italia party has dropped to third in the polls, behind the M5S and Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD).