L'Espresso calls in lawyers on Berlusconi remarks
MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Editoriale L'Espresso, publisher of left-leaning newspaper La Repubblica, has instructed lawyers to protect the group from "serious" remarks made by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the company said Wednesday.
L'Espresso said in a statement Berlusconi accused Italy's second-biggest selling daily, La Repubblica, of a "subversive attack against him" and called on business leaders to "boycott and stop advertising investments" at the paper.
L'Espresso said it had instructed lawyers to evaluate possible civil and criminal actions.
On Saturday, June 13, Berlusconi had said he was the victim of an orchestrated campaign of "subversion" over his relationship with an 18-year-old model and his use of state planes.
The 72-year-old media tycoon, whose centre-right party comfortably won recent local and European elections, told a meeting of business leaders the campaign was aimed at replacing him with someone who had not been chosen by voters.
At 1509 GMT L'Espresso shares were up 8.25 percent at 1.1420 euros, outperforming the 1.5 percent rise in the DJSTOXX European index of media companies, but little changed by the company's statement this afternoon.
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