100,000 protest for press freedom in Rome

More than 100,000 people rallied for press freedom in Rome's central square on Saturday, protesting that scandal-plagued Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to muzzle the media. "Berlusconi is bad for Italy's health," read one banner emulating warnings on cigarette packets at the demonstration organised by the Italian Press Federation, opposition groups and left-wing trades unionists at Piazza del Popolo. The square was packed with protesters holding green, white and red balloons in the colors of Italy's flag. Another banner read, "we are all scoundrels", a term Berlusconi used to describe some TV journalists. "We ask the prime minister to stop the campaign of accusations against journalists and to tell the truth," Franco Siddi, head of the Italian Press Federation, told the crowd. Organizers said 350,000 took part in the protest, while city authorities put the figure at 60,000. AFP correspondents estimated the crowd in the square at more than 100,000. The protest comes after months of revelations about Berlusconi's private life spurred the prime minister cum media tycoon to file a series of lawsuits against newspapers in Italy, France and Spain.