Italy. 4 criminal complaints from a public company against a newspaper

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After the publication of articles on lack of trasparency –  Why Ossigeno and Media Defence pay the costs of legal assistance for 2 journalists  

OSSIGENO June 5^th  2025 – The Legal Help Desk of Ossigeno (see details here), created to help journalists in difficulty due to legal actions that appear specious, will defend in court the journalist Daniele Castri, editor of  “Il Nuovo Sette Colli” and Maria Corrao, publisher of this online newspaper of the Rome hinterland. Both have been sued by ASTRAL (Azienda Strade Lazio s.p.a.), a public agency under the direction of the Lazio Region which is the sole shareholder, for several  articles in which they highlighted some failures of the company with respect to transparency obligations in the management of tenders.

In three months, the company has filed four defamation lawsuits against the newspaper in relation to the articles published.

“Il Nuovo Sette Colli” has received expressions of solidarity from the Associazione Stampa Romana (the Rome Press Association), from Rete No Bavaglio (no-gagging network), from journalists of the Lazio Region and from Ossigeno per l’Informazione.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE – The legal actions have put the newspaper in difficulty, which has modest financial resources and it, therefore,  has asked for the intervention of the Legal Aid Desk of Ossigeno. The assistance was granted and entrusted to the lawyer Andrea Di Pietro, coordinator of the Help Desk. Ossigeno believes that the journalists of “Il Nuovo Sette Colli” have correctly exercised the right to report and criticize facts of undoubted public interest and hopes that the company will withdraw the lawsuits  which appear reckless and unfounded, as the judiciary will surely ascertain.

THE DISPUTED ARTICLES report alleged irregularities and lack of transparency over some of the company’s activities and projects, based on public documentation and on objections raised by the Transparency Commission of the Lazio Region. One article reproduces a press release of solidarity received by the newspaper for the excessive number of  lawsuits  served.

Two articles published in October 2024 concern the management of three projects to be built in the southern area of ​​Rome with public funding: a railway underpass at Ciampino, under via dei Laghi (an arterial road that connects the via Appia to Velletri); the doubling in size of the Frascati railway station, a multi-storey car park in via Pia, in Velletri funded with 850,000 euro. Overall, the projects assign works for several million euro and have a significant environmental impact. The newspaper pointed out that the company has not made public the details, computer generated visualisations and descriptive documents of the projects, as required by the laws on transparency.

The case of the underpass in Ciampino appears to be the most controversial. It was announced at a press conference but it was not explained publicly in the proper way, neither to the citizens nor to the press, before starting the expropriation procedures of 90 properties, for which the owners had the short term of 30 days to present formal observations. “Il Nuovo Sette Colli” noted that that project was entrusted to ASTRAL following the ordinary procedure and therefore is subject to the normal transparency rules provided by law.

ASTRAL company is contesting an article on the management of road construction sites begun  by 11 municipalities in Lazio (largely administered by centre-right councils) that were begun without full compliance with the regulations provided for public tenders. This issue was raised by the president of the Transparency Commission of the Lazio Region, Massimiliano Valeriani, who denounced the absence of rankings and clear criteria for selecting the companies to be assigned the projects. The Commission has requested an urgent investigation, involving Astral.

PUBLIC INTEREST – The regularity of Astral’s activities is a matter of public interest that therefore concerns citizens and the media. All the more so since the company founded in 2002 has recently expanded the scope of its activities, extending them from the road sector to other sectors of public construction. Based on a series of agreements between the Lazio Region and Roma Capitale, (the special administration for Rome as the nation’s capital) it also deals with cycle paths, car parks, new railway stations and depots, urban planning works and large underpasses. All interventions financed, at least in part, with public funds. ASP

Other cases handled by the Ossigeno Legal Desk