Berlusconi in court to deny underage sex claims

Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi made a rare court appearance to deny some of the more salacious accusations at the centre of a sex scandal that has muddied his reputation.

The former prime minister said he never had sex with an underage Moroccan teen, never paid for sex with any guest at his villa near Milan and denied that “bunga-bunga” parties that he held were in any way sexual.

“The expression ‘bunga-bunga’ comes from a joke that I have repeated many times, and that has been picked up viciously by the media,” said Berlusconi.