Anger over Berlusconi’s Nazi comparison

Silvio Berlusconi has sparked anger by comparing his legal travails to Jewish suffering under the Nazi regime.

In an interview with Italian journalist Bruno Vespa, which was reported by the BBC, the former Italian prime minister said his children “feel like the families of Jews under Hitler’s regime”.

Mr Berlusconi was banned from office in August after he was convicted of tax fraud. He is also appealing a six-year sentence for sex with an underage prostitute and faces the loss of his parliamentary seat.

Italian Jewish leader, Riccardo Pacifici, said that the comparison “astonished” him.