ROME : Italy's defence minister on Wednesday manhandled a journalist who tried to ask Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a question at a news conference, pushing him brusquely back into his seat.
Freelancer Rocco Carlomagno had shouted a question about Berlusconi's embattled public safety chief Guido Bertolaso from the back row without awaiting his turn.
Berlusconi showed irritation and called Carlomagno a "boor" before Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa left the podium to subdue the journalist, saying: "Behave, you lout!"
Carlomagno told reporters afterward that he would lodge a complaint against La Russa for "aggression because freedom of the press must be defended".
He charged that La Russa punched him twice in the breastbone, the ANSA news agency reported. "He was a goon," Carlomagno said.
"When La Russa realised that I wanted to ask about something other than the advertised subject... he tried to shut my mouth," Carlomagno said. "He suddenly came to sit near me to prevent me from speaking, and he put his hands on me."
When Carlomagno tried a second time to ask his question about corruption allegations weighing on Bertolaso, Berlusconi asked him his name, then said: "Mr. Bertolaso will be able to sue you. Shame on you!"
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010
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