Sentenced for 6 months the threatener of a journalist

He wished Paolo Borrometi , through social media, to have a horrid end, showing himself with a rifle

OSSIGENO 9th September 2022 – On March 24th 2022 the judge Francesca Aprile, of the Court of Ragusa, issued a suspended sentence to Ivan Lo Monaco of Vittoria to 6 months and 10 days of detention, for the threatening comments posted in 2015 on Facebook about three articles by the journalist Paolo Borrometi, deputy editor of the AGI news agency, on the web-site “La Spia”, which he manages, on the arrest of Jerry Ventura, son of the mafia boss Filippo Ventura. Ossigeno at the time dealt with Ivan Lo Monaco’s threats to the journalist (read here) who had filed a formal complaint against him. His conviction was because of the persistence of the offence and also provided for the reimbursement of legal expenses and compensation for damages to be settled in civil proceedings.

Ivan Lo Monaco had targeted the articles of the journalist of 25th-28th April and 27th May 2015 entitled “Vittoria: Jerry Ventura arrested by the police, son of the mafia boss Filippo”; “The Venturas in Vittoria, from the criminal tradition to insults on Facebook directed at police and collaborators of justice”; and “Death threats to Paolo Borrometi: searches and warrants for ‘dangerous’ individuals”.

Lo Monaco’s comments on Facebook had been disturbing. Among other things he had written: “We have to celebrate your head … cops like you do not last long“. Reinforcing these words, the man had also posted a photo of himself holding a rifle.

According to the judge, who at the same time as the sentence published her reasons, the death threats were “pronounced in unfavourable comments on the offended person’s articles aimed at denouncing local crime, and moreover proffered by a previous offender”.

PAOLO BORROMETI – The journalist told Ossigeno: “I’m happy but I am not making any comments. It is enough to look at the image posted by him with the rifle to understand that words are really superfluous “. In the proceedings against Ivan Lo Monaco, Paolo Borrometi was assisted by the lawyer Luca Licitra. LT wt