MOSCOW, September 24 (RAPSI) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held on Tuesday that Italy had violated the free expression rights of Italian former newspaper director Maurizio Belpietro in connection with his conviction for defamation, arising from an article published in the national daily he had served at the helm of.

Belpietro had served as director of the daily in 2004 when an article written by an Italian senator was published. The article, as described in a court announcement, centered on “a ‘war’ between judges and prosecutors on the one hand and the Carabinieri on the other hand, in the contexts of efforts to combat the Mafia.”

Specifically, the article claimed that Italian judges and prosecutors had pursued their efforts against the Mafia by use of political strategy.

Two prosecutors then filed a complaint against the senator and Belpietro, claiming that the article had constituted an “infringement on their honour.”

In 2007, the case was dropped against the senator, as it was established that he had published the article in his official capacity.

Belpietro was acquitted the same year, only to be sentenced on appeal two years later. In 2009 he received a four-month suspended sentence and was ordered to make large payouts to each civil party involved.

His efforts to appeal failed, and thus he turned to the court – alleging that his conviction had constituted a violation of his free expression rights.

Finding that Italy had violated his rights to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention), the court ordered Italy to pay out EUR 10,000 in non-pecuniary damages as well as EUR 5,000 in costs and expenses.