Milan, 9 July (LaPresse) – The Milan Court has sentenced one of Liliana Segre’s online trolls, in a summary trial, to a four-month suspended sentence and an order to pay €1,500 in compensation for racially motivated insults. For another defendant, however, a probation order involving community service and compensation to the Shoah Memorial Foundation was imposed, with the proceedings suspended. “Today’s case was the first because the individual opted for summary proceedings, which could have resulted in a conviction,” said lawyer Vincenzo Saponara, contacted by LaPresse. “The aim is to address the issue of online abuse aimed at damaging people’s reputations and spreading content that also carries other connotations, such as hatred and racial discrimination.” Many other cases, Saponara further explained, “have been settled amicably” because the defendants “realise the error of their ways and make amends for their conduct”. The life senator, represented by lawyer Saponara, had been insulted online and had decided to file a complaint. The defendants were all charged with defamation aggravated by racial hatred for a series of anti-Semitic insults and racial threats directed at the Holocaust survivor online and on social media. In February, other defendants agreed to pay compensation ranging from 500 to 2,000 euros in exchange for being placed on probation. In addition, donations were made to the Shoah Memorial Foundation.
Milan: Social media abuse directed at Liliana Segre; first troll sentenced
Milan, 9 July (LaPresse) – The Milan Court has sentenced one of Liliana Segre’s online trolls, in a summary trial, to a four-month suspended sentence and an order to pay €1,500 in compensation for racially motivated insults. For another defendant, however, a probation order involving community service and compensation to the Shoah Memorial Foundation was imposed, with the proceedings suspended. “Today’s case was the first because the individual opted for summary proceedings, which could have resulted in a conviction,” said lawyer Vincenzo Saponara, contacted by LaPresse. “The aim is to address the issue of online abuse aimed at damaging people’s reputations and spreading content that also carries other connotations, such as hatred and racial discrimination.” Many other cases, Saponara further explained, “have been settled amicably” because the defendants “realise the error of their ways and make amends for their conduct”. The life senator, represented by lawyer Saponara, had been insulted online and had decided to file a complaint. The defendants were all charged with defamation aggravated by racial hatred for a series of anti-Semitic insults and racial threats directed at the Holocaust survivor online and on social media. In February, other defendants agreed to pay compensation ranging from 500 to 2,000 euros in exchange for being placed on probation. In addition, donations were made to the Shoah Memorial Foundation.
