July 19, 2024
An Italian journalist has been ordered to pay 5,000 euros (£4,210) in damages to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after making social media posts mocking his height.
The judge ruled that two of Giulia Cortese’s tweets were defamatory and amounted to “body shaming”. She was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros.
Earlier, Cortese called Meloni a “little woman” and said: “I can’t even see you.”
Responding to the verdict, Cortese said the Italian government had “serious problems with regard to freedom of expression and dissent among journalists.”
The two men first clashed in October 2021, when Meloni’s far-right party, Brothers of Italy, was still in the opposition, after Cortese posted a caricature of Meloni on Twitter’s “X.”
The photo showed Meloni standing in front of a bookshelf artificially decorated with a framed photograph of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
In a Facebook post, Meloni said the image took on a “unique significance” and that he intended to take legal action.
Later that day, Cortese said Meloni had deleted the photo after realising it was fake, but accused her of creating a “media doxxing” against him and said the Facebook post showed her to be a “petite woman”.
She later wrote in another post: “Giorgia Meloni, you don’t scare me. After all, you’re only 1.2m (3ft 9in) tall. I can’t even look at you.”
Meloni’s height is said to be 1.63 metres (5 feet 3 inches) by Italian media.
Cortese was found not guilty of posting the initial image but guilty of subsequent tweets.
She has the option to appeal, but has not yet confirmed whether she will do so.
Ms. Meloni’s lawyer said any money she receives will be donated to charity.
Following the verdict against X, Cortese wrote: “The Italian government has serious problems with regard to freedom of expression and dissent among journalists.”
“The country seems to be moving closer to Orban’s Hungary. Tough times for independent journalists and opinion leaders. Let’s hope for better days ahead. We will not give up!”
She later said she was “proud to be Italian and to be Italian”, but added: “We deserve better than this terrible and disgraceful government.”
