Italian Supreme Court rules: aggravating mafia factor for assault on one journalist

Questo articolo è disponibile anche in:

Ossigeno: It’s a case law to apply from now – It’s a strong warning to those who unlawfully discourage journalists, says attorney Caterina Malavenda

OSSIGENO – June 19^th  2025 – Attorney Caterina Malavenda, who successfully defended TG1 correspondent Maria Grazia Mazzola, told Ossigeno that winning the application of the aggravating circumstance of the mafia method, given the generic nature of the provision that provides for it, was “an unforeseen result.” But it was applied, she adds, and it’s “a strong warning to those who intend to discourage unlawfully others who want to bring to the public’s attention facts of undoubted social interest” (read the full text of her comment below).

The unexpected outcome came on May 20^th  2025, with the Supreme Court’s decision, which definitively sentenced Monica Laèra (wife of boss Lorenzo Caldarola, a member of the Bari-based Strisciuglio clan), a woman with a criminal record, to 14 months in prison. On February 9^th  2018, in Bari, she threatened to kill journalist Maria Grazia Mazzola, a correspondent for TG1, and attacked her by punching her in the face. The veteran  RAI correspondent wanted to interview her for a special episode of TG1 dedicated to young people and the Mafia.

CATERINA MALAVENDA’S COMMENT – Lawyer Caterina Malavenda, who assisted the RAI correspondent, told Ossigeno, “The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of Monica Laèra, accused of assault and threats, aggravated by mafia methods, against RAI journalist Maria Grazia Mazzòla, who was attacked while she was in the “Strisciuglio” neighbourhood of Bari, while reporting, upholding Laera’s conviction. This outcome was not a foregone conclusion, given the equivocalness of the provision that provides for that aggravating circumstance, but it is certainly most consistent with the facts, as ascertained during the trial. Those facts confirm how dangerous the profession of journalism can be and how much more commendable it is for those who practice it with courage and determination, despite the risks. It is also encouraging that judges take this into account and sanction, when possible, those who behave towards journalists in ways that hark back to times that one would like to have put behind one. Regardless of the reasons, which have not yet been issued, the decision protects in concrete terms, both the right enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution and the ability to exercise it in complete freedom and without constraints, especially violent ones. While a journalist in a democratic society should never anticipate—or, worse, suffer—an attack, it is reassuring that when this does occur, they can count on a firm, decisive, and coherent judicial response. The Supreme Court, therefore, has once again issued a strong warning to those who would discourage, by unlawful obstruction, those who wish to bring to the public’s attention facts of undoubted social interest,” concluded Malavenda.

COMMENT FROM OSSIGENO PRESIDENT Alberto Spampinato – It is hoped that after this decision by the Supreme Court, the application of the aggravating factor of mafia methods to punish attacks on journalists will become less contentious. There is reason to hope so.

This is the second ruling by the Supreme Court in this matter, and it should set a precedent over an issue that has so far seen contradictory approaches from judges. The other specific precedent dates back six years: on November 13^th  2019, when the Supreme Court upheld the six-year prison sentence, with that aggravating circumstance, of Roberto Spada, who on November 7^th  2017, in Ostia, had attacked journalist Daniele Piervincenzi. With that conviction of Roberto Spada, the Supreme Court upheld the 2019 ruling of the Court of Appeal, according to which the aggravating circumstance of mafia-style methods does not presuppose the existence of a mafia-style criminal association, but is justified by the climate of silence, which in that case was evident, “since it was established that Roberto Spada exploited , on this occasion, the intimidating power emanating from the criminal organization ruling the area, known as the Spada clan, which was very conscious  in the minds of journalists and well-known to local residents, so much so that it was repeatedly referred to during the interview as a collective entity capable of influencing political decisions made within the neighbourhood (this was precisely the reason that had led the journalists to seek contact with the accused and interview him on this matter).

Read here the Ossigeno story

Read here other articles on this topic

ASP/LT