Italian PM Meloni sues Placebo's lead singer Brian Molko for calling her 'fascist, racist'

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sought legal action against Brian Molko, the frontman of British band Placebo for calling her “racist” and “fascist”. According to Politico, the Italian premier is planning to pursue a defamation case against the singer after Molko bashed her during a concert near Turin last month.

The rockstar launched his rant against Meloni at the Sonic Park music festival. Screaming in Italian Molko called the Italian Prime Minister a “racist,” and a “fascist,” following which the local authorities reported him to the prosecutors. A week after the incident, prosecutors opened an investigation against Molko for insulting the state institutions.

On Wednesday, Italian news outlet, La Stampa, reported that Meloni’s lawyers are filing a defamation lawsuit against the singer. This is not the first time the Italian premiere filed a defamation lawsuit against her critique. Last year, she pursued a legal battle against two journalists from the Italian newspaper Domani for using “specific terms” against her in an article, Politico reported. The newspaper alleged that Meloni had tried to help an MP from her own party to win a government contract to procure face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Meloni rejected the allegation and demanded damages of €25,000 from the paper. The trial will go on the floor in July 2024. 

Libel suits posing a major threat to freedom of speech in Italy 

According to The Guardian, Italy has one of the highest rates of lible suits against the media in Europe. Under the country’s criminal code, anyone who “publicly defames the republic”, including government, parliament, the courts and the army faces a fine between  €1,000 to €5,000. Hence, the Placebo rockstar could be fined up to €5,000 if convicted.

Earlier, things escalated quickly between Meloni and Roberto Saviano, the author of “Gomorrah”. He got into trouble for the comments he made about Meloni’s stance on immigration.

According to Euro News, she filed a criminal defamation case against him under which Saviano can face up to three years in prison. In light of this, the International Press Institute has called on the country’s parliament to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of Italy’s defamation laws.