The first conviction for online insults against Senator for Life Liliana Segre has arrived: the Milan court sentenced one of the haters—the only one who had chosen to be tried under the fast-track trial—to a four-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay €1,500 in damages. Another was ordered to perform community service and pay compensation to the Shoah Memorial Foundation.

Thus concluded in Milan the first trial stemming from one of the strands of a major investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office, launched following the complaints filed by Segre, represented as civil plaintiff by lawyer Vincenzo Saponara. The proceedings involved eight defendants in total, centering on charges of defamation aggravated by racial hatred for the barrage of insults on social media directed at the Holocaust survivor.

In previous hearings before Judge Francesca Ghezzi of the Sixth Criminal Section, some defendants apologized in letters and sent compensation, again to the Shoah Memorial, in sums ranging from 500 to 2,000 euros. These steps led to the dismissal of their complaints, and therefore, those positions were dismissed from the trial with a declaration that "no further action is necessary." Others, however, including the defendant in today's hearing, were admitted to probation, which suspends the trial and, if successful, dismisses the crime.

Today, the judge ordered 12 months of community service at Caritas, in addition to a €300 payment to the Foundation and psychological counseling. The only person who had chosen to stand trial was convicted. This first trial stemmed from one of the strands that, in April 2025, also led to the decision of preliminary investigations judge Alberto Carboni, following Saponara's opposition to prosecutor Nicola Rossato's motion to dismiss the case. Meanwhile, a hearing on another tranche of cases involving other charges is scheduled before preliminary investigations judge Fabrizio Filice for October 1st.

(Unioneonline)