12 Mar Prison sentence for defamation conviction was disproportionate restriction of freedom of expression

The European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of Sallusti v. Italy (application no. 22350/13, 07.03.2019).

The case concerned a journalist, Alessandro Sallusti, who was found guilty of defamation, fined and given a prison sentence, part of which he served under house arrest. The national courts found that articles published under his control had falsely reported that a 13-year old girl had been forced to have an abortion by her parents and a guardianship judge. Other media had covered the incident the previous day but they had ultimately reported that she had not been forced into the abortion but had wanted it herself

The Court found that Mr Sallusti had tarnished the honour and privacy rights of the girl, her parents and the judge, but imposing a criminal sanction had, however, been manifestly disproportionate. There had been no justification for imposing a prison sentence. Even though it had been commuted into a fine, that measure had been subject to the discretion of Italy’s President. In any case, even if Mr Sallusti had been dispensed from serving his sentence, his conviction had not been expunged. The courts had thus gone beyond what would have amounted to a “necessary” restriction on Mr Sallusti’s freedom of expression, in violation of Article 10 of the Convention.

References from the official website of the European Court of Human Rights