The journalist risks prison for up to 4 and a half years
. This is the effect of one of the amendments presented by the rapporteur Gianni Berrino to the bill on defamation. A new article is effectively introduced: 13-bis of the press law. "Whoever, with repeated and coordinated conduct, intended to cause serious damage to the reputation of others, attributes to someone through the press "facts" which he knows to be even partially false is punished with prison from 1 to 3 years and with the fine goes from 50 thousand to 120 thousand euros. If it is known that the offended party is innocent, the penalty increases from a third to a half, i.e. up to 4 and a half years in prison.
The art. 13 of the press law (no. 47 of 1948) had been declared illegitimate by the Constitutional Court (with sentence no. 150 of 2021) precisely because it provided for prison sentences, in contrast with the jurisprudence of the ECHR which in the Sallusti case condemned the 'Italy because a prison sentence had been foreseen for Sallusti (which was later commuted by the then President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano). Well, with one of the rapporteur's amendments (1.114), on the one hand, article 13 is replaced with a new provision which provides only pecuniary penalties, which are much higher than the basic text of the bill now being examined by the Senate Justice Committee. Conversely, another part of the amendment (letter c i.e. paragraph 2-bis) provides for a prison sentence. In the first period, prison is foreseen only as an alternative to a pecuniary sanction, which is not in conflict with the ruling of the Council which we have just mentioned, even if the Court had explained that the judge can decide to impose the prison sentence "only in exceptionally serious cases". In the second period of the law, however, the prison sentence is cumulative with the fine. And this aspect seems to be in contradiction, according to what is observed in the centre-left, with the famous ruling of the Constitutional Court which ruled against prison for journalists.
"Prison for journalists is increasing and fines are becoming exaggerated." The leader of the Democratic Party in the Justice Commission, Alfredo Bazoli, raised the alarm about the amendments just presented by the speaker to the defamation bill. "Freedom of the press is at serious risk, urges the senator" after reading the amendment proposals filed by FDI senator Gianni Berrino.