Vannacci and the "Italianness" of Paola Egonu: the defamation charge dismissed
The volleyball player had sued the general for a sentence in his book "The world upside down"The accusation of defamation against volleyball player Paola Egonu has been dismissed for General Roberto Vannacci.
This was decided by investigating judge Alessandro Dal Torrione who accepted the request of the Lucca prosecutor's office.
It was the champion who sued the general, newly elected to the European Parliament, after he had written in his book "The world upside down": «Even if Paola Egonu has Italian citizenship, it is evident that her somatic features do not represent the Italianness...".
That phrase "can well be assessed as improper and inappropriate" also "with regard to the reference (which appears unjustified) to a specific person who legitimately complained about being called into question", writes the investigating judge in the dismissal order, but " However, there does not appear to be an exceeding of the limit of continence which could be said to be indicative of a desire on the part of the suspect to gratuitously offend Egonu's reputation, to denigrate it, to diminish its value, to carry out an undue attack on the person".
Further investigations, as requested by the champion's lawyer, writes the investigating judge. "they do not appear to be feasible with concrete profit and usefulness such as to be able to lead to a different evaluation regarding the sustainability of the accusation in court".
«It is the victory of freedom of opinion - comments the lawyer Massimiliano Manzo, Vannacci's defender - We are happy with the outcome of the proceedings and with having found a judge who listened to our reasons».
(Unioneonline)