ROME (Reuters) – A Rome university professor was acquitted on Wednesday of slandering Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida for comparing him to a Nazi governor.
A judge kicked out the case against Donatella Di Cesare, a professor of philosophy at the Sapienza University in Rome, saying “the fact does not constitute a crime”.
“This is a great victory for democracy and free debate. Critical voices must be heard,” Di Cesare wrote on X.
Lollobrigida, who is the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, made no immediate comment.
He launched his legal case last year after Di Cesare appeared on a television chat show and criticised him for saying that Italy was at risk “of ethnic replacement” because of its low birthrate.
Cesare said he used language similar to that of a “Gauleiter” — a regional leader of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party.
In his suit, Lollobrigida accused her of portraying him as a Nazi “who glorifies concentration camps”. Cesare defended herself in the Italian press, saying she had compared his choice of words to that of a Nazi, but had not called him one.
The defamation case against Cesare was one of a number of legal suits brought by government politicians against outspoken critics in recent months. Opponents say it is a concerted effort to limit freedom of speech, something ministers have denied.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Keith Weir)
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