Comparing the photo of a politician to that of Hitler is not defamatory, if it is political criticism, with a motivated dissent , and if the historical fact that is the object of the criticism is true and correctly reported .
The preliminary investigations judge of the Sassari Court, Gian Paolo Piana, has ruled. The judge dismissed the case against Bono's lawyer, Vittorio Delogu, for defamation. Delogu, defended by his colleagues Pierandrea Setzu and Michele Galia, is under investigation for a post published in September 2020, in which he harshly criticized Lega MP Enrico Zoffili, Matteo Salvini's longtime strongman in Sardinia . In essence, Delogu called Zoffili a Nazi, following the Alan Kurdi case .
Five years ago in September, the League MP showed up at a dock in the industrial port of Olbia, along with other people, and vigorously protested the disembarkation of women and children from the NGO ship Alan Kurdi . The migrants, who had been at sea for a long time, exhausted and in dire conditions, were rescued and helped by the Civil Protection Department and then transferred to various reception centers on the island. Zoffili was the protagonist of a sit-in on the dock.
Subsequently, in a post on September 28, 2020, his name was compared to that of Hitler, even through a photomontage. The Sassari prosecutor's office requested the case be dismissed, and the League representative opposed it. The investigating judge wrote that the right to criticize extends even when it is exercised with "harsh tones and strong comparisons." The exemption from the right to criticize, the judge explained, applies if the fact "underlying the criticism" has been reconstructed completely and without manipulation. Furthermore, according to the Sassari investigating judge, the Alan Kurdi case was of public interest because "the conduct was carried out by a member of the national Parliament."
