Mediaset to sue newspaper over Mafia claims

Mediaset has announced that it plans to sue newspaper La Repubblica over claims that the Italian broadcaster is part-owned by the Mafia.

The broadcaster, owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said it would take legal action against the editor and authors of an article that it said insinuated Mediaset is 20% owned by the mafia. “Such action will be taken in defence of the honour and reputation of a listed company whose shares are in the hands of leading national and international institutional investors as well as more than 200,000 Italian savers,” Mediaset said in a statement.