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Italy’s “paparazzi blackmail” scandal escalated with Romano Prodi defending his chief spokesman after reports that he he had been photographed talking with a semi-naked transsexual woman. The Prime Minister expressed “affection and esteem” for Silvio Sircana and describing him as “the victim of an attack unworthy of a serious country”.
In transcripts of a bugged conversation, reported by a newspaper, two photographers discuss shots of Mr Sircana, 56, talking to a transsexual woman from his car. Mr Sircana described their claims as “mud-slinging”.
Allegations that celebrities have been targets of organised blackmail by paparazzi have rocked Italy. Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister, is alleged to have paid €20,000 (£15,000) for pictures of his daughter Barbara, 22, in an embrace with a man who was not her fiancé.
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