200,000 rally in Rome to say ‘enough’ to Berlusconi

Tens of thousands of Italians have taken to the streets of Rome to protest a court decision to adjourn Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s trial for a month.

Tens of thousands of Italians congregated on Saturday in Piazza del Popolo in central Rome to protest against Berlusconi under a banner reading “Enough. The law is the same for everyone.”

Organizers put the turnout at 200,000.

Berlusconi is on trial on bribery charges. He is accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to a British lawyer in exchange for false testimony in the mid 1990s.

The prime minister has rejected the charge as “pure invention.” He has also described the judges as Taliban militants.

Angelo Bonelli, the head of the Green party, who joined the Saturday protest, said, “We are starved of legality. Today the real Taliban is Berlusconi, who wants to tie up the hands of the magistrates.”