'Above all he told lies, and the lies of the powerful pose questions for journalists,' Mauro added.

His comments came after another newspaper, the leftwing L'Espresso, Thursday published the transcript of a tape allegedly containing an intimate conversation between Berlusconi and Patrizia D'Addario, an escort.

The owners of La Repubblica are suing Berlusconi after he described the newspaper as 'subversive' last month while urging Italian entrepreneurs not to advertise in it.