Sawt Falasteen - Prosecutors call for fine in Italian PM defamation case

In a trial viewed as a test of freedom of speech, Saviano has defended his decision to call the far-right leader a "bastard" on national television in December 2020, when Meloni was still in opposition.

Speaking in a Rome court, he claimed the case against him -- which opened just weeks after Meloni took office at the helm of a hard-right coalition government last year -- was "intimidation".

But Meloni's lawyer, Luca Libra, rejected this and said the journalist'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 judge will decide later Thursday, with the potential sanctions ranging from a fine to three years in prison.

- 'Right of criticism' -

Saviano, best known for his international bestseller "Gomorrah" about the Camorra mafia in Naples, will be able to appeal any verdict.

But press freedom groups have said the case sends a "chilling message" to journalists.

"(It) 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 Thursday.

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 revolves 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.

"The controversies of recent weeks have certainly not reassured us," Saviano's lawyer, Antonio Nobile, told AFP on Wednesday.

Salvini -- now deputy prime minister in Meloni's government -- has 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.

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST