Berlusconi supporters stage 'we are all whores' protest over conviction

Silvio Berlusconi's supporters descended on a central square in Rome on Tuesday to hold a protest under the banner of 'siamo tutti puttane', meaning 'we are all whores'.

They expressed their anger towards the conviction of the former Italian Prime Minister for paying an underage prostitute for sex and abusing his office to cover it up, the Guardian reported.

Francesca Pascale, Berlusconi's 27-year-old girlfriend also made an appearance at the protest and told the reporters that the sentence was disgraceful and indecent.

She also said that she felt ashamed of her country's sick justice system.

In advance of the demonstration, the organiser Giuliano Ferrara, editor of right-wing newspaper Il Foglio, was filmed applying lipstick to himself.

His newspaper website also appealed to protest against penal injustice, hateful and hypocritical moralism and against political, media and judicial abuse.

Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in prison for paying for underage sex with the former teenage nightclub dancer Karima el-Mahroug.