An Italian court on Thursday fined journalist Roberto Saviano 1,000 euros for defaming Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by criticising her stance on migrants.
Saviano, best known for his international mafia bestseller “Gomorrah”, had called the far-right leader a “bastard” on national television in December 2020, when Meloni was still in opposition.
His lawyer immediately said he would appeal the verdict, after a trial that had sparked concern about freedom of speech in the EU nation.
Speaking to reporters outside the Rome court, Saviano said the trial had been “an intimidation” by the hard-right government which took office in October last year.
But he added: “There is no greater honour for a writer than to see their own words brought to trial… so today I am actually proud of having done this.”
In court, Meloni’s lawyer, Luca Libra, had denied persecution, saying Saviano’s words were not criticism but an “insult”, accusing Saviano of using “excessive, vulgar and aggressive language”.
He asked for damages of 75,000 euros ($80,000). The Rome prosecutor had asked for a 10,000-euro fine, but in the end the judge settled for a much lower figure.
‘Right of criticism’
Press freedom groups have said the case sends a “chilling message” to journalists.
The trial “serves as a dangerous warning to writers and journalists, suggesting that their words could lead to prolonged legal battles, financial strain, emotional distress, and possible imprisonment,” Sabrina Tucci of PEN International said earlier.
Saviano, who lives under police protection due to threats from the mafia, criticised Meloni’s views on migration and the charity ships that rescue migrants who cross from North Africa into Europe by sea.
“I am being prosecuted for the words I used to criticise the populist lies uttered against NGOs and migrants in recent years,” he said ahead of the hearing.
He previously said the judge “will have to establish whether or not it is possible to exercise the right of criticism” in Italy.
Migrant shipwreck
The case revolved around comments Saviano made on a political TV chat show following the death in a shipwreck of a six-month-old baby from Guinea.
The baby, Joseph, had been one of 111 migrants rescued by the Open Arms charity ship. He died before he could receive medical attention.
In footage shot by rescuers and shown to Saviano on the show, the baby’s mother can be heard weeping “Where’s my baby? Help, I lose my baby!”
Saviano blasted Meloni, who leads the post-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, and Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant League party.
“I just want to say to Meloni, and Salvini: ‘You bastards! How could you?'” Saviano said on the show.
The year before, Meloni had said charity rescue ships “should be sunk”, while Salvini, as interior minister that same year, blocked such vessels from docking in Italian ports.
After taking office in October 2022, Meloni’s government introduced a law to limit the activities of charity rescue ships.
Almost 140,000 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores so far this year, up from more than 74,000 in the same period last year, according to the interior ministry.
The majority are picked up by the coastguard, with around five percent rescued by NGO ships, the government says.
Criticism of judges
The verdict comes against a backdrop of increased tensions between Meloni’s government and the judiciary.
She led criticism earlier this month against a judge who ruled a new migrant decree from the government was unconstitutional and contrary to European law.
Salvini — now deputy prime minister in Meloni’s government — joined the case as a civil party seeking damages.
He has also filed a separate defamation suit against Saviano for calling him the “minister of the criminal underworld” in a social media post in 2018. The case is still ongoing.
Italy ranked 41st in the 2023 world press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders, up from 58th in 2022.
