Milan, Feb. 19 (LaPresse) – Compensation ranging from 500 to 2,000 euros for the Holocaust Memorial, community service, and “letters of apology.” These are the proposals presented by the alleged haters of Liliana Segre, charged with aggravated defamation motivated by racial hatred for a series of antisemitic insults and racial threats directed at the Holocaust survivor online and on social media, through their lawyers in the Milan court. They requested access to the probation program which, if successfully completed, extinguishes the criminal proceedings.
Of the eight defendants in the first investigation, coordinated by Prosecutor Nicola Rosato, the judge of the sixth criminal section, Francesca Ghezzi, ordered a non-prosecution ruling for three of them, following Segre’s withdrawal of the complaint. These three had already made donation-compensations to the Milan Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the charitable organization Opera San Francesco.
Of the remaining five defendants, one chose a shortened trial, a second proposed 2,000 euros in compensation to the Foundation and community service within the political-cultural association and blog “Qualcosa di Sinistra.” The court conditionally accepted this proposal but rejected the use of the politically affiliated organization, asking the lawyer to identify a less politically marked entity and suggesting “Caritas” or another structure “for those in need.”
A third defendant, a retiree, offered 500 euros in compensation, citing limited financial means, and will also propose a community service program at the next hearing on April 9. A similar case concerns another defendant living on an invalidity pension at his mother’s home in “financially difficult conditions,” leaving open the possibility of agreeing on an amount later based on economic capacity. The judge requested documentation of the “financial situation” at least one week before the next hearing, a necessary condition to access probation.
Meanwhile, another trial strand will begin in mid-March: the preliminary hearing has been set with about 20 defendants, also charged with aggravated defamation motivated by racial hatred and threats against the 95-year-old Holocaust survivor, represented by lawyer Vincenzo Saponara.
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