Marina Berlusconi comes to father’s defence over scandals

ITALIAN Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter has come to her father’s defence, saying he’s been “stabbed in the back” by months of slanderous newspaper revelations about his sex life.

Marina Berlusconi’s defence came a day after Berlusconi again denied having ever paid anyone for sex and said he would not resign. Prosecutors in Bari, meanwhile, say the premier doesn’t figure in their investigation of a local businessman who has admitted to paying women – including a prostitute – to attend the premier’s parties. The businessman, Giampaolo Tarantini, says he merely repaid the women for their travel expenses and brought them to the parties to show off.