By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A court in Milan has ordered a journalist to pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the sum of 5,000 euros ($5,465) being damages for making fun of her in a social media post, news agency ANSA reported on Thursday.
Giulia Cortese, was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros for a jibe on X, formerly known as Twitter in Oct. 2021.
The post was about Meloni’s height that was defined as “bodyshaming”.
The Prime Minister instituted a legal action against Cortese after the two women clashed on social media.
Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party was in opposition at the time, took exception when Cortese published a mocked-up photo of her with a picture of the late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background.
Cortese responded with further tweets including one that translates as “you don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. I can’t even see you.”
Cortese is entitled to appeal against the sentence.
Meloni’s lawyer however said the Prime Minister would donate to charity any damages she eventually receives following the decision of the court.
Meloni is not new to taking journalists to court.
In 2023, a Rome court fined best-selling author Roberto Saviano 1,000 euros plus legal expenses after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her hardline stance on illegal immigration.
Journalists at Italian state broadcaster RAI went on strike in May in protest against Meloni’s government’s “suffocating control” over their work.
