- Title: ITALY: Semi-naked selling for 'Ruby Heartstealer' in book ad campaign
- Date: 15th February 2011
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ALFONSO LUIGI MARRA, AUTHOR, SAYING: "I want to make it clear that I really do not care about the fate of (Italian prime minister Silvio) Berlusconi and I am not interested at all in his character. Having said this, I think that they are trying to use him as a scapegoat to distract the public opinion from th
- Embargoed: 2nd March 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy, Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA97FYU0N1AH6C5JR8VT1EV909Q
- Story Text: The woman that risks bringing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi down in flames raised a few more eyebrows on Monday (February 14) by showing off her assets in a book promotion wearing just her underwear.
Karima El Mahroug, who also goes by her stage name "Ruby Rubacuori" (Ruby Heartstealer), is one of the main characters in the investigation involving Berlusconi, who is accused by prosecutors of paying for sex with her when she was under 18, which is illegal in Italy.
The 74-year old prime minister has dismissed the accusations as "disgusting and disgraceful". But a judge may decide early this week that there is enough evidence to bring an immediate trial against Berlusconi.
"The regime, now that it has stripped Italy, tries to find a scapegoat because whether guilty or not it takes the focus off the need for real change," Ruby says in the advert with no clear indication to what she is referring to.
Author Alfonso Luigi Marra produced the advertisement for his latest books 'The female labyrinth' and 'The Story of Giovanni and Margherita', both love stories set in contemporary times. With the pretext of love stories, Marra speaks also of the evils of the international banking system, the worse of which he describes as seigniorage. Asked why he chose Ruby to promote a book concerned with the international banking system, Marra said that she is an extremely effective promoter.
"Because she is an extremely effective promotion media. I see that now the whole world is talking about the subject of my book. So Ruby was a good choice and she will have the merit, among many demerits that people say she has, to have strongly contributed in letting the world know what seigniorage is," Marra said.
Commenting on the Italian political situation, Marra said that he sees no political future for embattled prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but that he is being used as a scapegoat to prevent people to focus on real problems.
"I want to make it clear that I really do not care about the fate of (Italian prime minister Silvio) Berlusconi and I am not interested at all in his character. Having said this, I think that they are trying to use him as a scapegoat to distract the public opinion from the need for real change," Marra said.
"I think that if Berlusconi could go home and save his life, his possessions, his wedding, his children and so on he would do it right away. I think that this is what he is trying to save, not the politics, because politically I think it is clear that he has no future and no perspectives. I think that now in Italy, where many great cultural movements have always begun, we are about to have a moment of real ideological and cultural turn. That's why I think it is very important that we avoid that this turn is inhibited once again thanks to the strategy of the scapegoat," he added.
The advert by Ruby is available on www.marra.it and it is possible to hear it in several different languages including Mandarin, Arabic and English. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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