One member of the Italian government has initiated civil defamation lawsuits against Giulio Cavalli, writer, journalist, actor and playwright working for La Notizia newspaper (https://www.lanotiziagiornale.it/), Nicola Lagioia, writer, and Gaetano Pedullà, La Notizia editor-in-chief. The lawsuits stem from critical comments about social media posts and policies of this government member, as well as an article published in La Notizia.
The first lawsuit targets Cavalli and Pedullà over a piece published in April 2024.
The second case involves Lagioia and a case from March 2024. Lagioia highlighted that many foreigners speak better Italian than the member of the government himself.
The member of the government is asking in total 30,000 EUR as demanded in compensation for damages. Critics argue that his actions contradict the constitutional guarantees of free speech and equality, particularly Articles 3 and 21, which safeguard these fundamental rights.
These lawsuits come amidst growing concern over the government’s broader pattern of targeting critical voices. Earlier, disciplinary action was taken against writer and teacher Christian Raimo for his criticism of the administration. Observers note a troubling trend of using legal threats to stifle critique, creating what Lagioia described as a “climate of fear.”
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) calls on all authorities in Italy to respect and uphold the right to free expression, and SEEMO will closely monitor the developments connected to this cases.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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