'To threaten a writer means to threaten everybody’ Roberto Saviano on the cost of SLAPPs for society

Living under police protection, Italian writer, and author of ‘Gomorrah’ Roberto Saviano is the man whose groundbreaking investigation revealed insights into the most dangerous mafia clans in Italy. Saviano is facing two defamation lawsuits - deemed as SLAPPs by The CASE Coalition - brought by the top government’s representatives: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy PM, Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini. Two politicians are suing the writer over his harsh criticism of their anti-migrant statements.
In 2022, Italy has drawn the attention of multiple national and international organisations dealing with press freedom. In the Mapping Media Freedom 2022 report, Italy ranked among the EU countries in which MFRR registered the highest number of legal threats against media and journalists.
During a discussion at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia in April 2023, Roberto Saviano noted that in the Italian context, politicians don’t initiate legal disputes to prove who’s right, but rather to paint their opponent (in this case a critical journalist or writer) ‘as dirty as they are’. ‘Politicians file lawsuits against those who dare to criticise their actions’, he said.
Recorded at the margins of the panel co-organized by ARTICLE 19 Europe and Osservatorio dei Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response and the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) for the #ijf23 in Perugia, Italy.
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