IPI and the undersigned media freedom and civil society organisations strongly condemn the investigation of three Domani journalists for allegedly receiving confidential documents from a public official and for alleged breaching of secrets through the publication of information contained in those documents. The charges are connected to their reporting on a conflict of interest involving the current Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto. The journalists face up to 5 years in prison under Italian criminal law. Our organisations call for the investigation to be dropped immediately. No journalist investigating matters of public interest, or their sources, should be exposed to intimidation, prosecution or imprisonment.
In October 2022, Guido Crosetto announced that he had instructed a law firm to take legal action against the newspaper Domani over an article authored by Giovanni Tizian and Emiliano Fittipaldi which examined a potential conflict of interest related to his links to the arms industry. The article highlighted Crosetto’s past roles as a lobbyist and adviser for the arms industry in Italy since 2014, following his departure from active politics. Documents obtained by Domani revealed that Crosetto earned 1.8 million euros from defence contractor Leonardo for consultancy work between 2018 and 2021. The article argued that Crosetto’s extensive ties to the arms industry and his personal relationships with key industry figures represented a conflict of interest.
While the lawsuit has never been formalised, Crosetto filed a complaint which led to the Perugia Public Prosecutor’s Office initiating a preliminary investigation of Domani’s journalists Giovanni Tizian, Nello Trocchia, and Stefano Vergine. The three journalists are charged onwith two accountsusations: firstly, complicity in a concerted action with a public official to gain regarding unauthorised access to official documents from two sets of databases, including information on related respectively to tax revenues, and preliminary investigation, and pending proceedings across a number of prosecution offices. Secondly, they are charged with revealing secrets through the publication of information contained in those documents.
According to the formulated charges, the against Domani’s journalists, they had are alleged to havely received confidential information on documents regarding politicians, businessmen, and members of criminal organisations, in addition to including files related to Crosetto’s tax return declarations., information which presumably would have allowed Domani to report on the Defense Minister’s revenues in October 2022.
Under the Italian criminal code, the three journalists may face up to 5 years in prison for complicity with a public official in unauthorised access to documents from databases and 3 years for breaching confidentiality. Domani’s newsroom fears that the current investigation conducted by the Perugia Prosecutor’s Office isrepresents is an attempt toat identify the journalists’ breaching the confidentiality of their sources and silencing their stop investigative reporting on members of the current government.
Domani were targeted in March 2023 for their critical reporting, and are being further smeared with accusations of doxing against a number of politicians.
The MFRR notes that the investigation into Domani is part of a rapidly deteriorating climate for pres freedom in Italy. Italian press freedom has fallen under renewed pressure, with this only the latest attempt to target Domani for being the target of several attempts from the ruling coalition to silence their critical reporting, including the recent accusation of being involved in doxing activities against a number of politicians. Within the broader context, characterised In recent months the country has seen by a steep increase in vexatious lawsuits filed against the press by leading government ministers, alarming bills aimed at reforming defamation and court reporting, and growing s well as political interference in the public broadcaster., the charges brought against Domani’s investigative team represent a further worrying indicator of a rapidly deteriorating environment for Italian press freedom.
The undersigned organisations strongly condemn the decision to investigate the three journalists and call for the preliminary investigation to be immediately dropped, in line with international press freedom standards. It is a journalist’s duty to inform the public and to hold power to account. When a minister of Defence has a record of personal involvement with the arms industry the public has a right to be informed and make its own judgement on how the minister then chooses to exercise power.
We further denounce any attempts from the Italian authorities to compromise the confidentiality of journalistic sources. The protection of journalists’ sources is of paramount importance and must be respected by authorities in line with Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Article 4 of the European Media Freedom Act, according to which member states shall not detain, sanction, intercept or inspect media workers or any persons who, because of their relationship with a media service provider or its editorial staff, might have information related to or capable of identifying journalistic sources or confidential communications.
We will continue to monitor the Perugia Prosecutor’s Office’s investigations and stand strong in support of Domani’s newsroom.
Signed
ARTICLE 19 Europe
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
International Press Institute (IPI)
OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)
This statement is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries, and Ukraine. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.
