Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party poured scorn on a newspaper report claiming that the former premier was under investigation for allegedly bribing a top executive at the state television network.
According to the report, published on Wednesday in the left-leaning La Repubblica, prosecutors in Naples had wiretap evidence showing that Berlusconi asked Agostino Sacca', head of the RAI department in charge of producing soaps and dramas, to hire four female actresses.
The daily said Berlusconi was also being probed for allegedly trying to bribe a senator elected on a centre-left ticket to join the centre-right coalition as part of a bid to bring down the government of Romano Prodi.
The Naples prosecutor's office had not denied the story by the middle of Wednesday.
Sandro Bondi, national coordinator for Berlusconi's party, attacked the newspaper - known for its anti-Berlusconi stance - for publishing the story.
''La Repubblica has become an official gazzette specialised in the carefully timed and politically motivated publication of telephone wiretaps, which should be covered by judicial secrecy and banned by law when they involve MPs,'' he said.
Berlusconi's spokesperson Paolo Bonaiuti asked rhetorically: ''Did we wake up in Rome this morning or in the Chile of General Pinochet? Telephones tapped continually, MPs spied on and filmed while going to appointments, citizens deprived of their fundamental right to privacy''.
Forza Italia Senator Niccolo' Ghedini, Berlusconi's lawyer, said news of the probe was ''without any foundation'', adding that the former premier had received no official notification he was under investigation.
He said the conversations and activity outlined in La Repubblica's report had ''no penal relevance''.
