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Paparazzo denies blackmail plot

Rome: An Italian photographer on trial for blackmailing celebrities with compromising snaps has been thrown a lifeline by his most illustrious alleged victim, Barbara Berlusconi, daughter of the Italian Prime Minister.

Fabrizio Corona, the self-styled “King of the Paparazzi,” is standing trial in Milan accused of extorting thousands of euros from celebrities in return for not publishing embarrassing photos of them. Matilde Simonetto, representing the Berlusconi family, has said in court £16,000 had been given to Corona to suppress photos he took of Barbara Berlusconi (24) leaving a nightclub. She told prosecutors that her father, Silvio Berlusconi, had paid off Corona.

But Simonetto insisted the deal had nothing to do with blackmail, instead she praised the paparazzo. “I received no threats from Corona,” she said. “I considered the fact that he offered me the photos of Barbara almost a courtesy.”

Corona has claimed he simply gave celebrities a first option to buy photos at the same rates at which he would have otherwise sold them to gossip magazines. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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