Senate denies use of Berlusconi wiretaps (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, July 20 - The floor of the Senate on Wednesday voted to deny a request to use wiretap recordings of conversations involving ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi. In a secret vote, 130 Senators were against the authorization, 120 in favour and eight abstained. The parliamentary immunity panel requested that the authorization be granted so the material could be used in a trial. The wiretaps regarded the case of the so-called Olgettine, young women who the media magnate supported financially, allegedly so that they would not testify against him in cases linked to sex parties at his home. The outcome sparked protests by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), leading Speaker Pietro Grasso to suspend the session. But Premier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) blamed the M5S, saying their "tricks" with the secret vote had made the vote in favour of Berlusconi possible.