Berlusconi admits being ‘a sinner’ at times in interview

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he “sometimes is a sinner” but accused magistrates who want him to stand trial over a sex scandal of using Soviet-style spying to oust him.

He used an interview in Il Foglio, an opinion daily, to raise the stakes in his war with Milan magistrates ahead of a judge’s decision next week on whether he should stand trial on charges of paying for sex with a minor and abusing his power to help her.

“I, sometimes, like everyone, am a sinner but the type of moralistic justice being waged against me is ... simply scandalous,” he said.