Threats to Marilù Mastrogiovanni. Judge postpones the decision about civil parties

He asks for more extensive evidence of the legitimate interest in pleading as injured parties in the trial which began in Lecce

OSSIGENO – 22 nd October 2020 – The criminal trial has begun in Lecce to try together three
defendants of Casarano, including the former mayor, accused of several acts of intimidation
(classified as aggravated defamation) committed against the journalist Marilù
Mastrogiovanni, editor of the online news bulletin “Il Tacco d’Italia”, who in 2017 was
subjected to repeated threats and intimidation.

The trial, with a legitimate but questionable choice, sees Marilù Mastrogiovanni in turn accused of aggravated defamation against the same individuals for having published an article in which she reported that, based on the content of a wiretap revealed in the acts of a judicial proceeding, they were alleged to have been linked to the Sacra Corona Unita ( a Mafia-type criminal organization from the Apulia region in Southern Italy especially active in the areas of Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto) .

In this first hearing, the judge reserved the right to decide on all requests to form part of a
civil action: from the journalist herself, from the Apulia Region, from the Regional
Commission for Equal Opportunities, from the Pangea network, from Ossigeno per
l'Informazione, from the journalists’ trade union and the Order of Journalists. The judge asked
each association to expand the formal request filed today by sending more extensive and more
reasoned reasons in writing as proof of its legitimate interest to be represented in this trial.
The decision will be taken at the next hearing on November 26 th 2020. The judge’s request
comes two days after the decision of a judge in Genoa to reject all requests to bring a civil
action presented by associations that protect press freedom and the right to information.
Ossigeno has criticized that decision (read).
Furthermore Ossigeno has published the historic and moral reasons (see here) of its request
filed today in Lecce by the lawyer Andrea Di Pietro to present itself as an injured party
alongside Marilù Mastrogiovanni in addition to a statement by the president of the order of
journalists, Carlo Verna in which he encourages Ossigeno to continue in this effort.
ASP
Read also:
“Writing about Mafia in the land of Mafia. The case of Marilù Mastrogiovanni”
MARILÙ MASTROGIOVANNI”