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Rome statues "protest" against Berlusconi sex antics

Other News Materials 7 February 2011 16:07 (UTC +04:00)

Romans awoke on Monday to find scores of statues in the city centre festooned with banners criticizing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for his sex antics, DPA reported.

"Italy's body is not for sale," said one of the slogans hanging from the neck of a statue in the Italian capital's Piazza del Popolo square.

Another statue bore the slogan: "There's more to Italy than bunga bunga" - the name given to alleged orgies involving the premier and dozens of women at his residences.

A group calling itself Nessun Dorma (None shall sleep) said it hanged the banners on 150 statues to raise awareness about Berlusconi's "unacceptable" behaviour.

The initiative aims to show "that there exists a different Italy which will not capitulate before the seemingly irreversible decline of the country's image," the group said in a statement.

Berlusconi is under investigation for his involvement in underage prostitution and abuse of power. The allegations first surfaced in November, when a Moroccan go-go dancer claimed she had visited the premier when she was still 17 years old.

On Sunday, protesters clashed with police at a rally outside Berlusconi's villa in Arcore, near Milan.

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