The Undersecretary of State for Culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, announces that he will demand one million euros each in compensation from Report and Il Fatto Quotidiano for “the defamation campaign surrounding the theft of a painting from the Castle of Buriasco.”
“The series of lies, conclusions and suspicions that are spread against me on a daily basis, the result of completely false reconstructions, constitute a serious defamation for which I have asked my lawyers to pay 1 each from 'Rai' and 'Il Fatto Daily' to demand million euros in compensation.” '. “A systematic defamation campaign, clearly set up at the table, with unfounded accusations, without cross-examination, with a ready-made theorem, with the clear aim of delegitimizing me,” says the art critic.
Furthermore, in a statement, the Undersecretary of State responds “to the new lies spread this morning by the newspaper Il Fatto”: “Contrary to what the usual Thomas Mackinson wrote, as always without cross-examination but with the usual aim , to defame me, It is not true that I am in debt to the former Prime Minister Antonio Di Pietro, the historian Daniele Benati and the councilor of Forza Italia, Giovanni Terzi, as those directly involved can confirm. But the spreaders of Il Fatto are not interested in the truth; They resort to systematic lies to defame their opponents, as it is notoriously a megaphone newspaper of the 5 Star Movement.”
In the note, Sgarbi also states: “It is not true that it has been established that the bank's current account with the Chamber of Deputies is not seizable; In support of this, I remember the order dated December 1, 2023 from Dr. Sergi, General Director of the Court of Macerata, who assigned to the creditors the amount of 46,679.64 euros deposited in this account, which was considered by the judge to be absolutely seizable. In summary, it can be said that the creditors received a total amount of 96,784.86 euros from the total lien realization from me; not assigned, not even partially, to the restorer Mingardi, since his defense attorney never appeared at the hearings, not even at the last one: therefore the judge did not take his creditworthiness into account. After all – he concludes – it is not true at all that I claim that I have “nothing”. Another daily lie that the 5-star organization must respond to in the appropriate places.”