Digos “visits” the essayist’s home in Benevento and confiscates her cell phone on pm Palumbo’s orders
“References are made to my positions on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”
benevent.
When he receives me in his beautiful house in the upper part of Benevento with a courtesy that clashes strongly with the inevitable perseverance of my work, he does not give the impression of a person who has just completed a long search. “Do I seem worried?” begins smiling Ornella Mariani Forni, 76 years old and with a fighting spirit that never falters.
After more than six hours “and four cafés”, the Digos agents left the apartment they “visited” on the orders of Deputy Prosecutor Donatella Palumbo and confiscated the mobile phone of the Samnite essayist, who is known beyond the provincial borders. A figure of undisputed public importance, protagonist of positions a thousand miles from the so-called mainstream: from vaccines and the green passport to the war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine.
Her words, uttered on television and at street events and available on the Internet, cost her the hypothesis of a crime of insulting the institutions regulated by Article 290 of the Penal Code. The reference in particular to how the person concerned – defended by lawyer Augusto Sinagra – told the reporter “refers to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”. Mariani Forni’s appeal to Russian President Putin and sharp criticism of the leaders of the republic undoubtedly found a very wide response.
“I am very pleased to learn that a judge cares to protect the honor of the institutions whose insult I am challenged to do,” he comments. “I remind those responsible – he adds – that somewhere there are also insults to the Italian people, and in this context I would like to state that this judicial initiative contradicts my right of opinion, which has not yet been revoked by the constitutional act.”
It’s not over yet: “The same investigative tool refers to my positions on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and I once again claim my right to express my opinion and speak in this regard.”
The conclusion: “The confiscation of computer equipment for a crime like the one in question is really disturbing because I express my opinion with my head and not with information technology. I wish Prosecutor Palumbo a peaceful and fruitful work.”