The media watchdog IPI slammed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for “interference” yesterdayy after he called in to a television show to rant about media coverage of his sex life.

“This kind of direct interference by a head of state in the content of an independent broadcaster is unacceptable as it amounts to intimidation and represents a violation of press freedom,” Alison Bethel McKenzie, acting director of the International Press Institute said in a statement.

“Government representatives have sufficient opportunities to inform the people about their opinions and get their point across and must allow for the free expression of alternative opinions,” she added.

Mr Berlusconi, 74, phoned in to the ‘Infidele’ programme Monday night, as it discussed the latest sex allegations involving the prime minister, and launched into a slanging match with the show’s host, calling him “contemptible, vile and loathsome” and ranting live on air about “whorehouse television.”

For the past week the media has been obsessed by assertions of orgies organised by Mr Berlusconi and prostitutes put up in luxury apartments.

IPI also noted that Mr Berlusconi had a near monopoly on Italy’s broadcasting sector, as owner of three of the country’s seven major television stations.

Another three belonged to the public broadcaster Rai, which was controlled by parliament and thus in turn by Mr Berlusconi, IPI noted. This was especially worrying “in view of the fact that television has an overwhelming power in shaping public opinion in Italy,” the watchdog said.