ECPMF’s Legal Affairs Committee has agreed to provide €10,000 in legal support to Antonella Napoli, a freelance Italian journalist, as she continues an almost 25 year long legal battle.
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_single_image image="5941" img_size="medium"][vc_column_text](07/09/2022 – Leipzig, Germany) The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)’s Legal Affairs Committee has agreed to provide €10,000 in legal support to Antonella Napoli, a freelance Italian journalist, as she continues an almost 25 year long legal battle which dates back to 1998.
In 1998, a criminal case against Napoli was initiated following a complaint by Alessandro Fedullo, a judge of the Regional Administrative Court over two articles detailing Fedullo’s involvement in secretive abortions. In 2006, Fedullo initiated a joint civil claim for compensation of damages in the case of conviction. One year later, the criminal case ended when the Court of Naples ruled the length of the proceedings had extinguished the liability.
Despite the 2007 ruling, the civil proceedings remain on-going today. Since Fedullo’s death in 2011, his family members have continued the legal proceedings. Fedullo’s representatives are seeking compensation for pecuniary, non-pecuniary, and moral damages quantified at a total of €100,000.
Napoli’s case is emblematic of the use of abusive lawsuits by powerful individuals to silence critical reporting and hamper media freedom. Moving forward, ECPMF will continue to closely monitor Napoli’s case as it progresses. ECPMF's Senior Legal Advisor, Flutura Kusari, said:
"No journalist should spend decades in court to defend her work and no country should allow powerful people to abuse its judicial systems. I hope Antonella’s case will be resolved soon and Italy will undertake the very much needed reforms to ensure its courts are no longer abused."
This legal support for Napoli is part of a comprehensive ECPMF programme which assists journalists facing legal issues such as defamation lawsuits, problems with access to public documents, and attempts to undermine the protection of sources and whistleblowers. Varying from case to case, support can consist of general guidance, access to specific legal advice, external assistance, access to expertise in policy and law making, and engagement in national or international litigation (directly or indirectly). Support is also available for pre-publication legal review. More information about how journalists, bloggers, activists, free speech advocates, NGOs, media outlets, and whistleblowers can receive legal support from ECPMF is available here. [/vc_column_text][nd_options_image nd_options_image="8467" nd_options_width="100%"][vc_cta h2=""]This legal support is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), an Europe-wide mechanism, which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. This project provides legal and practical support, public advocacy and information to protect journalists and media workers. The MFRR is organised by an consortium led by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) with ARTICLE 19, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Institute for Applied Informatics at the University of Leipzig (InfAI), International Press Institute (IPI) and CCI/Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT). The project is co-funded by the European Commission. www.mfrr.eu[/vc_cta][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id="nicdark_sidebar"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title="Related news" title_align="separator_align_left" color="sky"][nd_options_post_grid nd_options_layout="layout-9" nd_options_width="nd_options_width_33_percentage nd_options_float_left" nd_options_orderby="date" nd_options_qnt="6" nd_options_category_slug="Legal support, press release"][/vc_column][/vc_row]