Prosecutors have locked away audio tapes made by a woman who alleges she was paid to attend parties at Silvio Berlusconi's Rome home, judicial sources said on Thursday as his lawyer dismissed talk the premier might face legal tangles in the case.
The sources said prosecutors in the southern city of Bari had not given the tapes to experts - who are routinely tasked with clearing up any background noise and transcribing contents - in a bid to prevent transcripts from being leaked to the press.
The story broke on Wednesday after the Milan daily Corriere della Sera said Bari prosecutors investigating a kick-back scandal had wiretappings of a suspect who claimed to know the premier talking about the parties and paid escorts.
On Thursday Corriere said Patrizia D'Addario gave prosecutors five or six audio recordings and a video ''which shows her looking at a mirror in a bedroom''.
According to the daily ''a photogram shows a picture frame with a photo of Veronica Lario,'' the premier's wife.
Berlusconi has been at the centre of a media storm since a public divorce spat with Lario and allegations of links with a teenage girl - Noemi Letizia - which surfaced after his wife accused him of ''consorting with minors''.
But the premier, 72, has categorically denied any ''steamy or more than steamy'' involvement with teenagers, explaining there was nothing ''spicy'' about his attendance at the birthday party of 18-year-old Letizia because he had a long friendship with her family.
Berlusconi blasted D'Addario's interview to Corriere on Wednesday as ''trash''.
''Once again, the papers are full of trash and lies. I will not be swayed by these attacks and will continue to work for the good of the country,'' he said when asked about the report.
As political allies rushed to the premier's defence, his lawyer Niccolo' Ghedini dismissed speculation Berlusconi would run into judicial problems over the probe.
''It certainly can't be a problem for the premier because if someone takes a friend to a party and introduces her as his girlfriend it's impossible to know what sort of relationship the two have,'' Ghedini told a radio interviewer.
''The papers are printing news which has not been checked. There are statements (published) which I know are not true and we will decide on what action to take after talking to the judicial officials,'' said Ghedini.
Ghedini also laughed at talk that Berlusconi would need to pay escorts to attend his parties.
''To believe that Berlusconi would be forced to pay a girl 2,000 euros (the sum D'Addauro claims she asked for) to keep him company is over the top. I think he could have a great deal of women, and for free''.
MINISTERS RALLY TO PREMIER'S DEFENCE.
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa rallied to the premier's defence, saying that ongoing accusations over the premier's private life were ''slanderous lies''.
''These investigations on someone's private life ...are a violation of individual rights. No one can be discriminated against for their private life,'' said La Russa, accusing the opposition of fomenting the scandals for political ends.
Government Programs Minister Gianfranco Rotondi joined in, saying that ''the gossip'' would not harm the government and would fail to bring votes for the centre left.
Daniele Capezzone, spokesman for the premier's People of Freedom (PdL) party, claimed an ''anti-democratic operation'' had been whipped up by ''power groups and the Democratic Party (PD)''.
He accused PD heavyweight and former premier Massimo D'Alema of masterminding the media operation because speaking from Bari on Sunday he warned that the premier would face a series of ''jolts'' to his government.
D'Alema on Wednesday urged Berlusconi to respond to D'Addario's accusations but he denied prior knowledge of the probe and threatened to sue whoever accuses him of scheming to defame the premier.
Speaking to a group of businessmen on Saturday the premier claimed there was ''a subversive project'' aimed at unseating him from power.
Berlusconi, who swept to power with a huge majority in general elections in April 2008, said he has every intention of staying on to complete the rest of his five-year term as premier, accusing his detractors of casting a ''very negative image of the country abroad''.
The leader of the opposition Italy of Values Party and former graft-busting magistrate Antonio Di Pietro voiced fears on Thursday that the premier might ''be subject to blackmail''.
Meanwhile, judicial sources in Bari said prosecutors were pursuing their investigations against local businessman Giampaolo Tarantini - who owns a hospital supplies firm - on possible corruption charges in their wider probe into supplies to the city's hospitals.
Tarantini - who alleges he knows Berlusconi in several wiretapped conversations - is also being probed for abetting prostitution because prosecutors suspect he may have paid escorts to ''ingratiate himself with powerful people to foster his business activities'', the sources said.
The prosecutors have reportedly interrogated three or four women suspected of involvement with Tarantini.
