International political scandal “Bunga-Bunga”

While the Watergate scandal is associated with American President Richard

Nixon, the phrase “bunga-bunga” will always be associated in the minds of people
with the scandals surrounding former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
First of all, this man became famous as a successful businessman and media
mogul. And then, using his extensive connections in the media, he triumphantly
entered big politics, appearing before the Italians in the image of a charming and
eloquent billionaire who achieved everything in life with his talents and works.
With the support of the electorate, Silvio Berlusconi won the election as Prime
Minister of Italy at the age of 58 (just 60 days after founding his own party,
Forward Italy!). Italians believed that he would lead the country to social equality,
create favorable conditions for the flourishing of the free market and preserve the
traditional values of the people. Only in the first year of Berlusconi's rule it became
obvious that this man thinks more about his own well-being than about Italy.
In 1995, several investigations began at once against the Prime Minister - he was
suspected of forgery of financial documents, fraud with bank accounts, bribery and
corruption. This badly damaged his reputation and in the next elections led to the
victory of his opponent, center-left Romano Prodi. However, Berlusconi decided
not to give up and began to conduct an even more aggressive political campaign,
literally bombarding Italians with propaganda TV ads, brochures and fabulous
promises. He became prime minister three more times, but the further his political
career progressed, the more skeletons were found in his closet. The most
sensational scandal, during which details of private bunga-bunga parties at
Berlusconi's villa surfaced, became public at the end of 2010.
On February 15, 2011, in a Milan court, two cases were opened at once against the
Prime Minister - he was accused of sexual relations with minors and abuse of
office (he used connections to get a girl of easy virtue nicknamed Ruby the
Heartbreaker from prison, who then became his mistress). The prosecution also
succeeded in proving that Berlusconi hosted special "bunga bunga" parties, which
in their essence turned out to be sophisticated orgies at the Villa San Martino in
Arcore.
The press relished with pleasure all the details that were generously shared not
only by numerous witnesses, but also by the judges. Almost every day, new
articles were published in Italian publications with detailed descriptions of the
defile of underage strippers and sadomasochistic games that were practiced at the
"bunga-bunga" parties.
Berlusconi understood that it was useless to deny that such events took place (too
many witnesses confirmed this), but decided to challenge their “content”. He stated
that no one had sexual intercourse at the parties, and the girls presented themselves
as adults and agreed to participate free of charge. Needless to say, the prosecutor
easily managed to refute all of Berlusconi's statements. The court passed the
verdict: 7 years in prison. However, the politician's lawyers were preparing to fight
to the victory. They continued to file protests and appeals until all charges were
dropped against Berlusconi.