An Italian journalist has been ordered to pay Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni €5,000 (Ksh 700k) in damages for social media posts mocking her height.
A judge ruled that two tweets by Giulia Cortese, who also received a suspended fine of €1,200, were defamatory and amounted to "body shaming," according to BBC reports.
The case stemmed from comments where Ms. Cortese referred to Ms. Meloni as a "small woman" and said, "I can't even see you."
Responding to the ruling, Ms. Cortese said the Italian government has a "significant issue with freedom of expression and press opposition."
The feud between the two began in October 2021, when Ms. Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy party was still in opposition. Ms. Cortese posted a mocking image of Ms. Meloni on X (formerly Twitter), showing her standing in front of a bookshelf with a doctored photo of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini added.
Ms. Meloni responded on Facebook, calling the image "highly offensive" and stating she would pursue legal action.
Later that same day, Ms. Cortese said she had deleted the image upon realizing it was fake but accused Ms. Meloni of creating a "media pillory" against her. She added in a Facebook post that the post labeled Ms. Meloni as a "small woman."
In a separate post, Ms. Cortese stated: "You don't scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you're only 1.2m tall. I can't even see you."
Ms. Meloni's height is reported in Italian media to be 1.63m.
Ms. Cortese was cleared of charges related to the initial image but was found guilty for the subsequent tweets.
She has the option to appeal but has yet to confirm if she will do so. Ms. Meloni's lawyer stated that any funds received would be donated to charity.
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